Cringeworthy Comicbook Moments - Superman vs. Princess Tania and Other Moments

[espanolbot]

Trigger warning for sexism, violence, nudity and implied rape.

A brief glimpse at Superman from way back in 1939,



Harley Quinn ponders her childhood,





Irredeemable Ant-Man: Yeah, not entirely sorry to see this guy go.



Indian Spider-Man is a dick... no, strike that, considering recent events in India this comes off as kind of monsterous!



People complain about the treatment of the Joker in Snyder's books, but really, you don't know a bad version of the Joker until you've seen the version from ASBARTBW,






Yeah, he sleeps with a woman just so he could murder her afterwards. Errr...

And finally, the heartfelt sympathy of Cyborg's girlfriend as she helps him come to terms with his new disfigurement/disablity!

Comments

[darkknightjrk]

That Princess Tania strip is GLORIOUS. The spanking definitely has a sexual element to it (especially when you consider what the artist would draw later on in life), but considering some of the stuff he did during his first adventures, you could almost look at it as this sort-of revolutionary idea of those in power that use it to harm others can be taken down a notch by someone.

Also, "I'd rather tackle a dinosaur than a woman, anytime!" Superman, you are a ten year-old.

Where's the Harley sequence from?

Yeah, wasn't a fan of Irredemable Ant-Man at all. Hell, I'm really not a fan of Robert Kirkman's Marvel/DC/anything-besides-Walking-Dead-and-Invincible-really work. Ickyness of the scene aside, this and everything else just feels like it's trying too hard to be offensive/controversial.

Spider-Man India...yeah, that really has some bad subtext now with what happened to that girl in mind.

The Joker scene is interesting--between what I remember Miller talking about Joker and what we did get in All-Star Batman, it seemed like he was going to do a flip-reversal on the two. Where Batman starts off as this cackling demon who becomes more subdued due to necessity, and Joker becoming more maniacal, laughing, fixated on smiles as he becomes more obsessed with Batman. This sort of symbiotic relationship reminds me of how he had Joker become completely catatonic due to Batman retiring at the start of Dark Knight Returns. Sadly, though, with Lee doing a lot of other projects, it seems like they'll never get a chance to finish this.

[espanolbot]

The Harley part is from the latter half of her solo series, where they went from the "wacky" Dodson run to one more overtly inspired by the Cameron Stewart/Ed Brubaker Catwoman series.

[drexer]

"Sadly, though, with Lee doing a lot of other projects, it seems like they'll never get a chance to finish this. "

That is the happiest 'sadly' I ever read.

[darkknightjrk]

Why not? It's not like All-Star Batman was ever meant to be in any continuity other than the ones that Miller wrote in the past. Why not have other takes on Batman outside of the standard (and really, the story of All-Star Batman is sort-of the standard "Batman needs Robin to ground him" trope, just kicked up a notch)?

[drexer]

There is much to be said about the truth of that argument and about how Miller only presented it after the backslash regarding the book. But even disregarding all of that, when asked why this 'take'(and I'm giving it credit by conceptually calling it anything other than a huge assortment of cliches and horrible ideas) should be given credit and allowed to go along un-criticized?

Because of the sexism. Because of the bad dialogue. Because of the horrible bi-dimensional stereotypical characters. Because of the sexism. Because of the disjointed plot, concepts and panel-work. Because of the internal continuity problems. Because of the homophobia. Because of the sexism. Because of it being pure and simply an horrible story from a man who has done nothing in the past few years other than spew public hate and bile from his mouth to anything that does not conform to his privilege-full view of life, and he should not be given credit for his latest works when all they show is a manifestation of that. Because of the sexism.

And really, seeing as it is not obvious enough; because of the sexism.

[theflames]

What happened to the girl in India, and what's happened in this comic (which was not only before that, but not addressing that issue specifically) affect each other in hardly any way. At least, it certainly doesn't make the teenage boy with powers monstrous.

There's a trope in stories where creators will place all the responsibility on mere children, no matter how dangerous. I can't even call the boy a dick, though he's being cowardly, he should at least call the police. Wether he jumps in front of the knife isn't something he should have to do. (a bit of context please, has he had his powers for long, does he know how superhuman he is?)

Everything else is pretty on point, the Cyborg one is a really sad, like the angle they played there. The Harley one isn't so cringe worthy, it's an interesting take, but I don't really care for it's addition to her character.

[espanolbot]

I don't think that he bothers to call the cops, as these guys are also the ones that go on to kill his uncle and spur his debut as an actual superhero. AS in, his unpowered uncle attempted to save her from being mugged/raped/murdered and got murdered himself for his trouble, and Spider-Man only went back because he heard his uncle's voice.

This beginning the noble Spider-man tradition of all of his woes being entirely self-inflicted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_India

[theflames]

How old is he? He looks about 16 here, so that'd make 14-15 since comic art always seems to overstate things.

He didn't help on the first bounce, probably because his very still-human, not superhuman fear didn't allow him to act. Now yeah, should've called the cops definitely.

[janegray]

This beginning the noble Spider-man tradition of all of his woes being entirely self-inflicted.

I'd say that refraining from stopping a thief who is running away (so it doesn't look like anybody is in immediate danger) and who robbed the asshole who scammed Peter is in no way comparable to refraining from stopping a gang rape.

[an_idol_mind]

If I remember, the guy only scammed Peter in the movie. In the comics, Peter didn't stop the guy because it wasn't his job.

[seisachtheia]

I haven't read it so I don't know much about it, but what you said kind of makes it better for me, oddly enough. I mean, it still sucks to use the whole "woman being raped" , but yeah. If it had been "spider man sees robbers attempt to rape woman, decides to ignore it, robbers later kill uncle" the "oh, if I'd stopped them, my uncle would be alive" angst would have really upset me. But as it is, I kind of like the idea that he knowing risks and loses his life in the defense of another person. It makes even more sense as an inspiration to fight crime than just "because I failed to act once, a beloved family member died."

[blackruzsa]

True that they don't affect each other, but it is indeed cringeworthy that he didn't bother to do a thing. Even if he hadn't involved himself, he made no move to call the police, or help, or even just distract the attackers from his safe place high above ground.

Any of those moves would have sufficed. He did none of those, and he sickens me.

[big_daddy_d]

I want to know why a "Crusader" Attorney would sleep with Joker. Also was he transformed by chemicals in this continuity? He comes off as an emo goth here.

[janegray]

First, the Joker is apparently not a famous murderer yet. ASBAR takes place very early in the continuity: Batmans has been operating for a very short time, and he just recruited Robin.

Second, they imply that he drugged her drink.

[big_daddy_d]

For someone drugged, she sure is taking it well. She even comes off as charmed by him. Kinda throws me off honestly.

[team_mummy]

i remember picking up those Ant-Man issues because I love Cory Walker's art but yeah, that shower spread was some seriously repelling, man-child-y bullsh*t on Kirkman's part. I get that that particular Ant-Man is a scumbag, but picturing it all being written by one dude probably sitting at the computer in his bath robe makes it all seem so skeevy.