Uber #13

[arbre_rieur]

"This involved a potted history of what happened to Ukraine between 1920 and 1940 or so, and me trying to do my best Big Serious Russian Novelist Pastiche. (You want another, lighter example of the type, I'd not towards issue 14 of Uncanny X-Men where I did a ridiculously lengthy pastiche of Notes From Underground. It's after writing things like that that you do question whether you're actually mentally suitable for writing superhero comics.)" -- Kieron Gillen







"Then it's a curse."









She killed them all.

Comments

[big_daddy_d]

So she can use transmutation... Awesome. Let's hope she never tries to transmute a human. Who knows what the toll will be.

[hotfoot]

I think that's what she did to the people that came for her. I could be wrong, but she did just take out multiple superhumans and came out none the worse for wear.

[doodleboy]

Well creating a human is different because as we all know human kind can not gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something of equal value must be lost.

... I'm sorry, I'm terrible.

[big_daddy_d]

Someone got the FMA reference. Lol

[q99]

It's the Halo effect. It has been used on humans, in a rather 'splatty' way generally.

One of the German Battleships uses it on her hair.

[md84]

It seems like Maria is a Battleship variant who doesn't have the physical enhancements of the others but has a much stronger Halo effect than the German Battleships.

[q99]

Hm, a Halo-variant Battleship? That would be dangerous. Not sure if that's the case, but if they lucked out in discovering that variant in their first battleship, they're in good shape.

[beardedjellybean]

At the moment she appears to be a only partially activated battleship (only having the one activation but no others), so she has the Halo Effect (which does seem to be rather strong) which can also produce the paste which is edible for both ubers and humans, but not the strength or height of your average battleship uber.

[damar148]

So what happend to Sieglinde and why should Maria care after the Soviets tried to kill/force her back into service?

[q99]

What happens to Sieglinde isn't in this issue, but basically she makes it back to Germany (with help) but is so exhausted that she cannot be deployed for some time.

And I suspect the deal is, 'you're strong enough that we're absolutely not going to try and kill you again, or these people, and we'll make a big offer besides, if you help us.'

[doodleboy]

I like how Kieron teased the god damn thing for three issues.

Could be that Germany getting their battleships and being able to blitz London could lead to a Russian attack... and Russia being wiped out doesn't bode well for anybody. Or could be the reveal of how they got Sieglinde.

Eh, hope they go over how she got convinced in the next few issues.

[tugrul]

Ungrateful old folk, she filled your stomachs when there was no other food and she didn't ask for soldiers to come for her. She did what was necessary.

[q99]

They did lose their house and get to hear a lot of people die... I can understand that they view this as a 'mixed experience' at best.

[doodleboy]

I do have very little sympathy for her considering the old lady was going to axe her in her sleep... Before the whole soldier thing.

[silverhammerman]

It's kind of weird how no confrontation in this book is ever evenly matched, save the one with Seiglinde and the American Battleship. Beyond that it's always just the main cast stomping all over the opposition. What with the pseudo-realism in this story, it would seem to make sense if there were more turnover in the ranks of the actively deployed battleships.

[md84]

The closest thing the German Battleships have faced to a defeat is Sigmund losing an arm to a bunch of Russian tank men, and he took most of them down before retreating.

The one-sided nature of the conflicts is definitely intentional. Gillen did say that this is the kind of story where Galactus always kills Spider-man.

[silverhammerman]

I guess I just find it weird that Gillen would dispose of the sort of "underdog pulls out a victory through purity of heart and dedication" stuff while still having a cast that's a bunch of extraordinary people who stand head and shoulders above everyone else. It's ditching one trope but keeping a similar/related one around, so it's weird for me.

I'd forgotten that quote though, so it does make some kind of sense now that I've got that in mind.

[doodleboy]

Well the potential of a regular Panzermensch is two activations. A Battleship is twenty-four.

Regular Panzermensch can destroy tanks pretty easily, Battleships lay waste to cities with the enhanced strength and durability to match.

So it's mostly how much a Battleship completely outclasses everything else the same way a tank outclasses a rifle.

And I don't think we've ever seen a Battleship pushed to it's limits (everyone acknowledges Seiglinde will probably exhaust herself and get killed trying to get out of Britain), people realize what kind of asset a Battleship is and take care of it.

I think the reason I don't see these people as superman is because it isn't that they're talented or extraordinary. It's a genetic fluke that allows them to be built into better weapons. Kieron notes that the time Sieglinde fought Colossus she starts panicking because she's never been in a real fight.

And they're treated more like weapons in story. Most of the Panzermensh would eventually break down without constant maintenance (Katyusha being the only one being able to transmute the glucose paste they need to live).

[md84]

'And they're treated more like weapons in story. Most of the Panzermensh would eventually break down without constant maintenance (Katyusha being the only one being able to transmute the glucose paste they need to live).'

Katyusha being self-sufficient should scare everyone. Instead of creating a human weapon, the Russians created a god.

[q99]

Hah, good point. Ultimately she's the only one that *can* bug out and do her own thing, even the other Battleships cannot go AWOL.

[q99]

Battleships really are that hard to stop with land forces.

However, I think things'll be changing. The new Allied Battleships- one US, one Russian- are being completed, with the US one being of the 'heavy' variety so she should outmatch the German ones.

And there's been new research done on activations in the latest issue. In short, the balance of power should change, much as the Germans have been worried about for a long time.

[md84]

Three battleships actually. I think Leah is British. Colossus' younger brother is the Americans' potential Battleship.

[q99]

Ah, I forgot about him. He hasn't shown up in awhile.

If the US have a normal and the British have a heavy, plus the Russian, the Allies are in good shape indeed. The Axis have some projects, but they need to find a new potential, soon. I wonder if the Japanese are finally going to roll out a Battleship class.