The Origin of Johnny Sorrow
May. 22nd, 2009 12:16 am![[identity profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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scans_dailyA recent happening in the most recent Supergirl issue, I won't say what for spoiler purposes, struck me as being kind of familiar.
Here what happened in Supergirl,
Spoilers, in case you were wondering,
http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_
And this is the origin of the Lovecraftian JSA villain, Mr Sorrow. Previously referenced in Starman, his story begins in the 40s, when Johnny was a former Silent Film actor who was "forced" to turn to crime after "Talkies" caused his roles to dry up.
Somehow, He eventually came into possession of a "Subspace Prototype", that enabled him to become intangible. This, somewhat inevitably, caused him to run into the JSA, leading to the following series of events,
And the JSA rescue him, but he continues to plague the JSA in later years. I think that the last time he was referenced was when Billy Batson mentioned that he'd tried to take over the Rock of Eternity during Countdown. That and a JSA Classified storyline, which in itself it actually pretty good.
Okay, spoilers following,
I was just pondering whether Lucy Lane, aka Superwoman, is in for the same deal as Johnny, what with them both being ordinary people who were giving powers via technology, only to have their equipment damaged by a young superhero, causing to distort in painful ways before being sucked into a hole.
Hmm. Probably just a coincidence.
Ah, in other eldritch horror news: a new episode of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, aired today in Japan.
Woot. ^^
Here what happened in Supergirl,
Spoilers, in case you were wondering,
http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_
And this is the origin of the Lovecraftian JSA villain, Mr Sorrow. Previously referenced in Starman, his story begins in the 40s, when Johnny was a former Silent Film actor who was "forced" to turn to crime after "Talkies" caused his roles to dry up.
Somehow, He eventually came into possession of a "Subspace Prototype", that enabled him to become intangible. This, somewhat inevitably, caused him to run into the JSA, leading to the following series of events,
And the JSA rescue him, but he continues to plague the JSA in later years. I think that the last time he was referenced was when Billy Batson mentioned that he'd tried to take over the Rock of Eternity during Countdown. That and a JSA Classified storyline, which in itself it actually pretty good.
Okay, spoilers following,
I was just pondering whether Lucy Lane, aka Superwoman, is in for the same deal as Johnny, what with them both being ordinary people who were giving powers via technology, only to have their equipment damaged by a young superhero, causing to distort in painful ways before being sucked into a hole.
Hmm. Probably just a coincidence.
Ah, in other eldritch horror news: a new episode of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, aired today in Japan.
Woot. ^^
no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 06:44 pm (UTC)Can't remember which trade though, off the top of my head.
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Date: 2009-05-21 06:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 08:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 07:53 pm (UTC)*punches the air* Finally!
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Date: 2009-05-21 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-21 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-22 09:54 am (UTC)So how long until it's spread all over the net after broadcast? ;)
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Date: 2009-05-22 06:04 pm (UTC)^__^
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Date: 2009-05-21 08:50 pm (UTC)So did I...
Date: 2009-05-22 12:33 am (UTC)...a giant sentient bug with an army of giant-sized normal bugs.
That fails to be a Lovecraftian horror.
I wasn't expecting miracles, but Johns could have gone with shoggoths, or something like the Dunwich Horror (I have no idea what the plural is for that), or an accelerated large-scale version of The Colour Out of Space, or the radiate-intelligences from At the Mountains of Madness. Hell, I'd have settled for an army of Deep Ones or ghouls.
Off the top of my head, I can only think of TWO Cthulu Mythos ideas that Johns couldn't have used, because they never went in for anything as unsubtle as attacking a whole city at once: The Great Race of Yith with their penchant for mind-swapping, and those winged fungus/crustacean things that like to scoop out brains and keep them alive and silently screaming forever in metal cylinders.
But despite all the choices available, Johns went with something out of a bad '50s monster movie instead.
It's the same sort of thing Johns did in the new JSA title with the Gog arc -- really good storytelling turning to total failure and cliched crap right at the climax of the story.
Re: So did I...
Date: 2010-01-08 09:42 pm (UTC)While I wasn't crazy about Manhattan being overrun by 200lb insects as a whole, that cliffhanger with the Hal Jordan Spectre showing up as the cavalry, and then falling onto the docks as a skyscraper-sized skeleton picked clean by the King of Tears was awesome.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-22 12:36 am (UTC)Here.
I actually loved the way that Johns used him in the JSA book.