Superman's *Other* Pals

[arbre_rieur]

Three pages from ACTION COMICS 8...

Comments

[sadoeuphemist]

Are you mistaking him for Mark Millar or something?

[crabby_lioness]

Nope, I've been reading Morrison since Animal Man. His penchant for starting strong is only equaled by his penchant for crapping in the sandbox as he leaves.

[lascoden]

You mean a Planet X type scenario?

[sadoeuphemist]

What, you're worried he might reveal Lex to be a terrible human being?

[lascoden]

More that he'll reveal Jimmy to actually be Luthor, dispose of everything that makes him a unique villain, and then kill Lois Lane.

[sadoeuphemist]

That's the worst comparison. How was Xorn anywhere close to Jimmy Olsen? How is Magneto's campaign against homo sapiens sapiens not part of his uniqueness? How is part of Lois Lane's schtick being killed and then brought back to life?

[lascoden]

Xorn was an interesting character, a genuinely good guy with a terrible condition. Then he turned out to basically be a complete lie. Magneto is a villain who is sympathetic, you can understand why he does what he does. All sympathy is lost when you turn him into an insane Nazi, which also flies in the face of his origin. Jean was killed (or at least is staying dead) because they believed that it would make Scott more interesting. Look at the new Earth-2 or the DCnU to a lesser degree.

[sadoeuphemist]

Wait so what do you have against Grant Morrison? You think it was wrong of him to create a brand new sympathetic character and then reveal him to be secretly evil? Really? It is somehow his fault that when he killed off Jean "Phoenix" Grey that writers after him decided to keep her dead? And you are aware that there were Jews who, following WWII, actually ran concentration camps?

[lascoden]

I have nothing against Grant Morrison. I loved a lot of the concepts introduced in NXM, I enjoyed Batman Inc, look forward to its 2nd half, enjoyed Flex Mentallo, and AC has been pretty good. However, I did hate Planet X. I thought Xorn had great potential as a character, and that was thrown away. I think him turning out to be evil could have worked, but it just didn't make any sense to me. Plot twists aren't bad, but they're hard to do. To be honest, Jean's death was really the least of my problems with it. I don't expect someone named "Phoenix" to stay down. I've always loved Magneto because of that aspect moral ambiguity. He's by no means a good guy, but he's always had the potential to be a hero. A lot of his actions got close to Nazi-like, and I loved the scene where Xavier pointed that out on one particular occasion. But, There's a big difference between that and throwing people into furnaces, and snorting drugs. It ruined any chance of his redemption, and got rid of all complexities of his character. It was a lot like Unforgivable in FF. It turned him into a simple purely evil bad guy.

[sadoeuphemist]

So do you think he tends to crap in the sandbox when he leaves, or did you just not like that one arc, or what? Because I'm kind of confused what our discussion is about now.

[lascoden]

I think that it is very hard to follow him. He's very chaotic, everything is broken down and remade as he goes through a series. A lot of very nice things come out of this. As I said, I loved the concepts he introduced in NXM and Batman Inc. But, he always ends on a big earth-shattering note, and the next writer is left to pick up the pieces. There's not a cooling off period, no time for things to settle. It's almost like a game of hot potato. And, usually, a few big time characters are destroyed by the end. I'm more then a little worried about Talia in Batman. But, I think Planet X was the worst, and I admit that the other instances weren't nearly as bad.

[sadoeuphemist]

Okay then. And anyway, Magneto's part of the X-men now, so that all worked out in the end.

[salinea]

And you are aware that there were Jews who, following WWII, actually ran concentration camps
Exactly what are you referring to?