Worlds' Finest #6 Preview

[aeka]

The writing is still shite, but at least the Kevin Maguire art doesn't disappoint. It now has me wishing he was drawing the whole book for the fact that he draws a better Power Girl and a fiercer Huntress alone.

View the rest of the preview here.

Comments

[jaybee3]

Have to say I don't like it when writers pull out the card that Bruce doesn't care/notice where his money is going. I didn't like in the 90s when Bruce was "surprised" the Board of WE wanted to vote him out, I didn't like it when Winick had Jason and Talia take over Kord Inc. (one of Bruce's most important R&D companies) when he wasn't paying attention and I didn't like the idea that Dini never addressed Bruce's feelings that Alfred/Dick (and pretty much all of Bruce's allies) were OK with Hush giving away a billion dollars a month (!) from Wayne Coffers and posing as Bruce (as long as they could watch him). I like to think Bruce sees WE and the Wayne Fortune as part of his legacy from his parents and he would never do anything to inperil that. When he's not playing the playboy for public consumption it's perfectly clear in several stories he's a very good business man in his own rank even aside from Lucius Fox.

In my head canon, Bruce totally knows who Helena Wayne is and that she was taking his cash and she totally is underestimating her "not-dad".

[aeka]

I completely accept your head canon. ♥

[darkknightjrk]

Here's the interesting thing--in Batman & Robin, with Bruce "gone" ('cause it seem to be just vague enough that they never needed to mention the Hush thing), Damian took a real interest in keeping the Wayne Enterprise house in order. So, while I agree that Bruce would at least know a fairly decent vigilante was taking the money to use to do good, it also makes sense that Damian would notice it first. In his mind, Wayne Enterprise is his inheritance.

[mrstatham]

To be fair, Dini never really had a chance, from what I could see, of addressing exactly what Tommy was doing by the time Bruce returned. Bruce was absent for nearly all of Streets of Gotham and only came back with the House of Hush story, but at the same time.. I think he'd understand exactly why Alfred, Dick and Damian were alright with using Hush to suggest that whilst Bruce was having a difficult time in the wake of RIP and the allegations surrounding his parents, he was still putting on the occasional public appearance.

It's a little different than the other instances, where Bruce was actually around to be surprised. Dini just never had chance, because his book ended as Inc began.

Edit: It's also a little unfortunate that no-one seemed to know exactly what Bruce's public status was. I hated the scene in Batman and Robin with Damian addressing the WE board - like a ten year old no-one ever even knew of would be able to talk down the board of Wayne Enterprises like that - and there was also the rather curious thing of the 'Batman' body being buried, apparently, in a public grave, which allowed Batman's skull to be used in Blackest Night and then the body being used again in Blackest Knight. So.. Yeah. I think Dini just carried on his little Hush epic and used the status quo to his advantage in a fairly sensible way.

[darkknightjrk]

With the Blackest Night/Knight thing--from what I remember, the continuity goes like this:

Blackest Night happens, using Bruce's body from the open gravesite. After all that's over, Dick and Alfred decide that the regular gravesite wasn't secure enough, so he puts him in a secure safe under the Bat-Bunker. Then we get Revenge of the Red Hood, where Jason's final words strike at Dick, deciding to try to find a Lazarus Pit to try to reanimate Bruce, starting Blackest Knight.

[icon_uk]

Then we get Revenge of the Red Hood, where Jason's final words strike at Dick, deciding to try to find a Lazarus Pit to try to reanimate Bruce, starting Blackest Knight

Which will never not be the mother, father and a couple of uncles of a head-desking moment for me especially so soon after the Ressurrection of Ra's Al Ghul story where Dick elaborates in great detail as he explains to Tim why using a Lazarus Pit to bring back his loved ones would be a bad idea. He even says that he isn't sure what he'd do in Tim's situation, but hopes that he would be strong enough to decide not to.. and then promptly proves that he WASN'T strong enough and doesn't consider that what he is doing is more or less an abomination.

[mrstatham]

As much as I like Maguire, this book just needed Marcus To on art. And a far, far better writer than Levitz.

[aeka]

Agreed on Marcus To, which I dont get why they didn't ask him to be the artist on this book since he stated to me earlier he would love to draw it. Out of the two artists, while I love Perez, he doesn't fully capture the personalities and emotions of the characters the way Kevin Maguire does.

With regards to Levitz, he could certainly benefit from reading reviews on this book, and especially Sara 'Babs Lima's article on this book to get a better idea of what fans want and to scrap the formula he's been using that--quite frankly--hasn't been working. Write Huntress and Power Girl like real people, not like Hollywood stock characters. He similarly needs to write Helena like someone who was RAISED by Bruce and Selina, not the daft young heroine with the brain of a 13-year-old. He also needs to write Power Girl as she was: independent, assertive, and completely sure of and comfortable with who she is as a person. He also needs to explore the backgrounds of these characters. We need to know who they are and how their upbringing has influenced them and shaped them into the adults they became.

This book has so much potential that is being squandered by the clumsy writing of a writer who's completely disconnected what fans actually want to read about, and what he thinks will sell the book.

[darkknightjrk]

I don't remember seeing Helena do anything terribly stupid in this book, and as for Karen--I think it's a mistake to assume that they can just transplant the persona from the Palmiotti/Grey/Conner era in this Karen, because this is a character who didn't have a whole lot of experience as Earth 2's Supergirl, and then basically spent the last five years building a corporate empire instead of superheroing.

I honestly really enjoy the characters in the book--the problem is that Levitz hasn't really put them in any interesting plots yet. I do have hope for this arc, though--I mean, Huntress, Damian, and werewolves in the arctic? THat sounds like a recipe for some fun. :D

[aeka]

Helena is being written like a whiny, spoiled brat with no respect for others (including the dead Helena Bertinelli), in addition to doing something as stupid as breaking into Wayne Enterprises and being surprised to actually get caught by someone in the Batfamily, while arrogantly taking gibes at Damian (something she is not in any position to do). Kara is being written as the least intelligent of the two heroines who has to use her body (and men) to get what she wants.

However which way you choose to look at it, both developments are a huge step BACKWARDS for both characters. The way they're being written does not reflect the experiences both characters are shown to have had and I do not buy into the idea of Kara and Helena being 'younger, less experienced' versions of their former selves as a good excuse for bad, inconsistent writing. It is possible to still write Kara and Helena as intelligent, competent, and independent heroines of their own right while still building their characters and shaping their experiences.

The lack of placing them in any interesting plots and giving them believable antagonists are but one problem that exists with this book. Lack of believable characterisation that actually makes sense for their characters, reinforcing gender stereotypes, persistent objectification of Power Girl, and missing the mark when addressing feminist issues (particularly in Helena's storyline) are four more.

[halloweenjack]

I hate to say it, but I think you're right. I've bought the first five issues mostly for Maguire's and Perez's art, and neither of them seem to be at the top of their form.

[mercia]

You know, I look at this and the only thing I can think is: "Oh, look! Damian, in an attempt to support equality, is attempting the boob and butt pose! How lovely for him!"

[skemono]

So that explains what he's doing in that picture! Thank you!

[silverhammerman]

Nice that they're finally going to have this happen, but I really hope it's quickly followed up with Huntress and Powergirl meeting Batman and Superman, because it feels like that's the emotional scene we've been waiting for. If nothing else I'd just like them to get it over with, since we all know that it's coming.
Also, by virtue of being "another true biological heir to Bruce Wayne" Huntress might actually get a chance to put Damian in his place, since DC doesn't seem to feel any of Bruce's other kids can do it, since they're not "really" his kids.
And I like this art, but man oh man does Damian look terrible every time I see his drawn by this artist. Macguire seems to really have problems with drawing the character.

[icon_uk]

Also, by virtue of being "another true biological heir to Bruce Wayne" Huntress might actually get a chance to put Damian in his place, since DC doesn't seem to feel any of Bruce's other kids can do it, since they're not "really" his kids.

Nice idea, but I doubt it, since Damian would note that HIS mother is Talia Al Ghul, who can command the League of Assassins, whereas HER mother was nothing but a common thief.

[blackruzsa]

That's some solid art :)