scans_daily: D-Man in Pulse

uadlika (

uadlika) wrote in

scans_daily,
@ 2010-12-09 10:12 pm UTC

Entry tags:

char: ben urich, char: daredevil/matt murdock, char: demolition man/dennis dunphy, creator: brian bendis, title: pulse

D-Man in Pulse

Yesterday

fullbodytransplant posted a splash from New Avengers #7, where a bunch of superheroes interviewed for the position of Danielle Cage's nanny. They were meant as cheap gags in order to make Squirrel Girl look better, but the portrayal of one character just pissed me off. And that character is D-Man.

I've cropped

fullbodytransplant's scan to show you what I mean:

Why does this piss me off? Well a couple of months ago all I knew of D-Man was from this scan. He seems very happy there, no? Then about a month ago I read Alias and Pulse by Bendis and during the whole "Jessica goes into labor" arc in Pulse there was a subplot involving Ben Urich and D-Man. And it honestly made me cry.

Scans from Issues 11-13 of Pulse.

We start with Ben Urich, who is investigating jewelry store robberies that were saved by "Daredevil," but in his old yellow suit. And he smelled. I hadn't met Ben until this series but I gather he's an ally of Daredevil. He's understandably confused by the whole description so he does some research, and discovers that who he's actually looking for is D-Man:

Seems like during his robbery "saves" D-Man has been stealing himself. Ben investigates further. He discovers the Dennis Dunphy is the only superhero that has been arrested for vagrancy.

Dear Mr. Urich, I love you for "Every story is important." Sincerely, uadlika. Ben goes back to the jewelry store.

Being a thorough reporter, Ben goes into the sewer, and meets:

This is where my heart started breaking:

But when Ben says that "every story is important" what he really means is "everybody is important." And so he helps D-Man the best way he knows how:

Every story is important.

Perhaps I'm overreacting to the New Avengers page, but using the mentally ill as a joke has always been a sore spot of mine. I was the little girl (and now grown woman) who absolutely hated Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends for their treatment of Eeyore. I loved this story because Ben treated Dennis with dignity, and got him the help that he needed.

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proteus_lives
2010-12-10 04:09 am UTC (link)

I liked Pulse. Last good thing with Jessica Jones.

This was a heartbreaking and dignified story.

And I couldn't help but think that this situation would be so usual for superheroes. Extreme high risk, stress and situations, exposed to chemicals, radiation, magic and whatnot.

And it's true even for superheroes, once you're homeless, you're invisible.

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	no subject viridian5 2010-12-10 04:51 am UTC (link)
	Superheroing makes it hard to keep a steady job too. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 14 comments) (Show 14 comments)

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crinos
2010-12-10 05:03 am UTC (link)

Indeed, most super heroes don't worry about it because their powers make it easy to get money of their naturally rich:

Superman:Reporter, writes stories about himself.
Batman + Iron Man: Trust fund kids and geniuses.
Daredevil: Lawyer, super senses help him in court.
She Hulk: Lawyer for firm that specializes in superhuman cases, then bounty hunter.
Spider-man: Photographer who takes pictures of himself as Spider-man, still frequently has money troubles.
Fantastic Four: Celebrity superheroes (Though the first story arc in 4 did show what would happen if the FF needed to get real jobs)
Wonder Woman: Ambassador
Captain America: Not sure, does the Government pay his way? Does he live at the Avengers Mansion?
Hulk: Drifter. Still seems to have enough money with him to hang out in diners where he can be attacked by villains and hulk out.

Anyone else wish to add.

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proteus_lives
2010-12-10 05:16 am UTC (link)

Cap: I remember one storyline where the government decided give him his back-pay. (He was lost in the ice but still classifed MIA and collected a check.) It was a hefty chunk of change and I think he gave it to a veteran's group.

He's also supported himself by being a graphic artist.

Now, I think he lives on the Helicarrier.

Don't forget crime.

Black Cat with thiefing, Deadpool, Logan, Domino and others through merc work.

The Punisher steals from criminals

Royalty: Namor, T'Challa, Inhumans.

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viridian5
2010-12-10 05:25 am UTC (link)

I always thought it was really convenient that Professor Xavier had enough money that his X-Men didn't have to work for a living or pay for a place to stay if they didn't want to, which is why I respected Spider-Man and Heroes for Hire more. (I've been reading comics since the late 70s-early 80s. Can you tell?)

Iceman was an accountant, though he seemed to do that more when he was retired to semi-retired from active superheroing.

Do the FF live off of proceeds from Reed's technology?

One of the things I enjoyed about Nolan's The Dark Knight was that it showed why Batman has to be rich to get things done.

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crinos
2010-12-10 05:35 am UTC (link)

The Fantastic Four are celebrities; Johnny has a bunch of endorsement deals, movie deals, and the like. Before Civil War Thing got a trust fund from Reed that made him rich, and of course Reed has his inventions.

On the other hand, Hank Pym I think has the patent on Pym Particles (I think), and Janet is an heiress.

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	no subject avantre 2010-12-10 01:59 pm UTC (link)
	Wasn't Janet also a successful fashion designer there for a while? (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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proteus_lives
2010-12-10 05:45 am UTC (link)

I love the 70s-80s runs for a lot of heroes.

Beast was a scientist, Scott was a pilot for a time, Warren is rich (and it's been shown that's he's always funded various x-activities) Storm was a thief, Gambit too, Forge was an inventor, Polaris and Alex were geologists, Northstar was a professional athlete, Kitty Pryde has worked IT jobs, Piotr has been a professional artist, Cannonball has worked in a coal mine. Logan has had various jobs and I imagine he has socked away various hordes from his long life, Celica Reyes was a doctor, M was a rich kid, Jono was a musican, Rictor was a gun-runner, Shatterstar was a Mojoverse star, Dazzler was a pop-star, Bishop was a police officer, Surge worked in a coffee shop, X-23 was an assassin, Boom-Boom was a thief, Juggernaut was a criminal and merc, Psylocke was a model and government agent, Banshee worked for Interpol, Kurt was in the circus, Strong-Guy was a bodyguard.

I'm forgetting a lot.

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	no subject viridian5 2010-12-10 05:49 am UTC (link)
	I read almost all of (my dad's) Marvel's titles and a few DC titles back then, and they were mostly excellent. So very few of the people most active as superheroes had jobs that required regular hours, like a 9-5 five days a week, at the time they were out saving people. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject proteus_lives 2010-12-10 06:45 am UTC (link)
	It would be too much. Capes would have to have flexaible employment. Part-time, freelance or be like Tony or Reed - a owner. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject auggie18 2010-12-10 06:06 pm UTC (link)
	Jean Grey modeled her way through college. Never found out what her degree was, though. Or really saw her doing anything with it later. She was the Headmaster of the Institute, so maybe "tacher" wouldn't be too far off for her. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject proteus_lives 2010-12-10 05:17 am UTC (link)
	I think superheroes (and villains too) fall so deeply into the caped world, it's harder to go back to the other one. Even if they need to or something goes wrong. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 4 comments) (Show 4 comments)

	no subject viridian5 2010-12-10 05:28 am UTC (link)
	Just try to explain the gaps in your work history to a prospective employer! Also, unless you're doctored off-record by someone who's also a superhero or villain, you'll eventually go to the ER so often you'll look like a money sink to medical insurance companies and eventually be uninsurable. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

	no subject nezchan 2010-12-10 05:48 am UTC (link)
	They'd just have to move to Canada, then. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	no subject viridian5 2010-12-10 05:51 am UTC (link)
	Heh. These days, don't you have to have a proven steady income of a certain amount that will continue while living inside Canada to be allowed to become a Canadian citizen? (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject nezchan 2010-12-10 11:08 am UTC (link)
	Oh, immigration is always a pain, pretty much anywhere you go. I think it's more a case of proving you have an ability to find and hold work, and do the same here, but I couldn't tell you for sure. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject crinos 2010-12-10 04:15 am UTC (link)
	Anyone else get an apocalypse now vibe from the scene where Ben and D-man first meet? (Reply to this)

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amaniwolf
2010-12-10 04:17 am UTC (link)

Poor D-Man, i remember when he appeared way back and i thought,....geez what a horrible costume, but what a likable guy, so even i thought the way he was shown in the New Avengers as a joke was pretty sad. Still...i had no clue he'd gone down that far. I hope someone can pick up the reigns with him and do something. He deserves more then to just vanish into the ether of comics.

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Yeah..

steverodgers5
2010-12-10 04:38 pm UTC (link)

I really liked him back in Mark Gruenwalds run on Cap as well. As much as I can admire what's been tried with him since in Pulse, there's still a part of me that wishes he really had died in Cap #349.

Especially since we now have Bucky back. Would have been really ironic then for Dennis to have been the one Cap partner who actually did die in such a fashion, just before he could be on the Avengers team. I think that too would have been tragic as well. But seeing him reduced to this is really horrible. (Which is of course the point.)

It kind of ticks me off the Steve hasn't been more of an interventionist in his life. (Especially given how he rescued Tony from his drunken plunge into despair, back in the day. All the more ironic given how things went bewteen them in their Civil War days. Whereas I don't really think D-man did anything to really hurt Cap, but has been seemingly abandoned and ignored by Steve..)

That really should have been Cap that Urich contacted. (Though I get that he would be able to get in touch with Matt far easier..) I would have loved to have seen Urich maybe go nuts at Cap in front of the Avengers for just leaving D-man to fall into this type of despondency. (Kind of like that scene where Ms Marvel rounded on the Avengers for abandoning her after Xavier helped restore her memories..)

Sigh! Okay rant over. Normally I love Steve, but between this and Ed Brubaker's casual kicking to the kerb of Diamondback in favour of Sharon as Cap's one and only true love, I just kind of feel like there's not a lot of respect for much of the Cap stories I read in the 80es/90es..

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	no subject shanejayell 2010-12-10 04:47 am UTC (link)
	Poor guy. sigh It's kinda sad, as when he was first introduced he was a pro wrestler and supporting character in Captain America. Heck, he's the guy who made the 'US Agent' costume! (Reply to this)

	no subject arbre_rieur 2010-12-10 05:05 am UTC (link)
	Was it revealed what happened to the homeless community he was protecting? (Reply to this)

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http://www.google.com/profiles/Luis.eScO.2#buzz
2010-12-10 05:08 am UTC (link)

He was used for a cheap giggle which I don't mind, but it sucks that
that scene in New Avengers will be his last appearance for a while. Wish he gets used again somehow but not to be made to seem like some desperate loser to be laughed at.

Whats really funny is how Bendis wrote such a great piece with him and then kicks him into the mud.

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	no subject bluefall 2010-12-10 05:21 am UTC (link)
	I've been trying for years now to figure out how Alias and Pulse are so powerful and thoughtful and so much of everything else Bendis does is just... not. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	no subject taggerung301 2010-12-10 05:46 am UTC (link)
	I've always thought that most of his work on Ultimate Spiderman was really good, imo (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject thatnickguy 2010-12-10 01:06 pm UTC (link)
	I would say it's either a mainstream or editorial thing. With Pulse and Alias, Bendis has more wiggle room to do what he wanted. Whereas something like Avengers, he has a larger crowd of fans to pander to. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject nezchan 2010-12-10 05:50 am UTC (link)
	According to Wiki, he showed up during Dark Reign, not only in possession of his full (or most) faculties, but encouraging other heroes to act covertly in costume. Not too familiar with it myself, but if someone has scans it'd be interesting to see. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject pyrotwilight 2010-12-10 05:37 am UTC (link)
	;_; D-Man's indeed a character that's very heartbreaking and the Pulse story above makes me tear up. A hero for the homeless is a powerful concept. (Reply to this)

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psychopathicus_rex
2010-12-10 06:36 am UTC (link)

This kind of reminds me of 'Defendor'. I don't know if you've seen that, but it's basically a movie with a similar concept - a mentally deficient, more or less homeless superhero. It's quite a good movie, I thought - it shows how truly inspiring genuine heroism can be, no matter where it comes from.
The implication is that D-Man has basically gone addled from loneliness, right? I mean, I haven't read any more of him than this and the other page you linked to, but I don't recall hearing about him being like this when he was actually being used semi-regularly.
It'd be nice if he made a comeback. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, and it'd be a shame if this was the closing note of his career.

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	no subject stubbleupdate 2010-12-10 07:14 am UTC (link)
	I know that it's not the point of the scans, but I was really impressed that there's a computer screen that actually looks like programs that run on computer screens. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject arbre_rieur 2010-12-10 07:21 am UTC (link)
	I'm kind of surprised they were able to do that. My understanding is you'd need legal permission from the owners of whatever program's on display. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject destroyed 2010-12-10 02:35 pm UTC (link)
	Eeyore is mentally ill? I always just thought he was emo. No wonder he acts like such a dickweed when everyone else is having fun. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject glprime 2010-12-11 01:26 am UTC (link)
	He's clinically depressed and self-medicates with thistles. Also, Christopher Robin is schizophrenic, Pooh is a compulsive over-eater, Tigger is ADHD, Piglet has generalized anxiety disorder, Rabbit is OCD and Owl is narcissistic. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject badficwriter 2010-12-11 12:55 am UTC (link)
	The mention of the Winter Soldier was before that character was really known, I believe. The implication was that D-Man was not...entirely...insane in his actions. (Reply to this)

	no subject greenmask 2010-12-11 01:23 am UTC (link)
	:'[ (Reply to this)

	no subject philippos42 2010-12-12 03:16 am UTC (link)
	I'm going to say that this version of D-Man bothers me. D-Man was always odd, but this makes him just standard pathetic Hollywood crazy. (Reply to this)

	D-Man ogrebear 2010-12-14 08:17 am UTC (link)
	Didn't he turn up after this as an Enlisted Man in US Army operations in Iraq? This was during Dark Reign I think.. Quick check and I was right: http://www.comicvine.com/d-man/29-19960/all-images/108-213598/demolitionman8/105-1194251/ Seems the Avengers thing was a bad joke. But then most people where OOC in that 'gag' (Reply to this)

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