Friday, July 14, 2006

I have seen the Light

I just saw the cover to the new JLA issue #1.



Let's look at that a little closer, shall we?



WHOOHOO!!!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Uh, don't hold the parade just yet.

1. Everyone in that picture is a POSSIBLE member of the team. They're not going to go with the JLU-size team that's being shown. And this is a list that includes the likes of:

Karate Kid, who would have a commute of a 1,000 years and is thus extremely unlikely to be a JLA member, especially when they already have a resident martial artist on the team, already living in the present

Kyle Rayner... as GREEN LANTERN, and not his current identity of Ion

Elongated Man (The main characters in 52 will not be seen until after it is over)

Dr. Fate (Hector Hall version of costume)

Booster Gold (see Elongated Man)

Aquaman (The Original with green gloves, not the current "squid" form, or the "new Aquaman")

Fire (who is in Checkmate)

2. The cover of issue 2 has been released, with silhouettes for most of the team:

http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=5902

You can probably find a bigger version of this pic. But the fact remains that NONE of those shadow-people look like Kimiyo.

3. Another cover:

http://myspace-122.vo.llnwd.net/00923/22/14/923624122_l.jpg

Again, no further sign of Kimiyo.

Kimiyo appearing on the picture shown doesn't mean she will actually be a JLA member, or redeemed, or even properly addressed. It's all just another tease. I still won't trust DC to do right by her until I see it in an actual story. Cameos won't cut it for me anymore...

Marionette said...

I don't care if she makes it to the team. This is her first appearance since 52 #1 that can't be put down to a flashback. It has her alive and in costume.

For someone who was last seen depowered and bleeding to death, it's a definite step up.

Anonymous said...

actually that was released prior to I think IC#5 after her depowerment...if I remember right. So yeah I feel that it does give us some bit of hope but even I don't give that much credit either

Also about Dr.Fate it's made clear Hector Hall is gone for good

kalinara said...

Also about Dr.Fate it's made clear Hector Hall is gone for good

Hector Hall is done for good, but there's going to be another Dr. Fate soon enough. He's already glimpsed on future 52 covers and in the Brave New World preview of Trials of Shazam.

Whether or not she ends up joining, this is a *very* good sign! :-)

Anonymous said...

yes I will agree with that

Sleestak said...

Man, I hope the new Fate isn't that crappy ank-knife tossing one returned from the dead.

Anonymous said...

"I don't care if she makes it to the team. This is her first appearance since 52 #1 that can't be put down to a flashback. It has her alive and in costume."

Staredcraft said something similar when she appeared alive and in costume in IC # 5, only to later realize that the situation might not be as good as he thought...

What if she's only on the cover?? Not even appearing in the book?? They do that sometimes, you know.

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the so-called Trinity visits her in the hospital, she's in the exact same condition or worse, and they leave, saying "Oh, well. NEXT..."

Showing up on the cover doesn't mean anything about the REAL status of a character. Again, see Karate Kid, Kyle as GL, etc., etc. And how many covers over the years have been deceptive on purpose??

I need some CONCRETE evidence that Kimiyo will be okay. Something FAR more solid than a mere cover appearance that probably signifies nothing about the actual well-being of the character.

Covers are VAPOR.
They hold NOTHING.
They mean NOTHING.

No one ever cites covers as an example of what a character can do.
It's what's in the STORY that counts.

I want PROPER resolution to her being depowered, in an actual story. I want her PROPERLY restored. Covers and cameos won't cut it.

If they can't do that, and 10 months of nothing pretty much indicates this, they shouldn't have put her in the situation in the first place.

DC doesn't do proper storytelling of any kind anymore. To that, I say, "If you can't do the job RIGHT, then you DON'T do the job."

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Wet Blanket Man! Once again you have saved us from being enthusiastic about comic books!

Anonymous said...

Dan DiDio says, "Glad to be of help, Citizen."

Fact of the matter is, I wasn't the one who:

1. allowed the rape of Sue Dibny to be retconned into the relatively benign Satellite League

2. has the Giffen League put down every time they come up

3. made the DCU dark, and still allows it to CONTINUE to be dark even though the people working at DC are SUPPOSEDLY "sick to death of darkness"

4. and most pertinent to the main topic, allow Kimiyo to be "raped", depowered, and hospitalized, and stay in that condition for 10 months

And, of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

If it was up to me, NONE of this would have EVER happened. EVER.

I happen to like having a light DCU.
I happen to like seeing Superboy, Impulse, Robin, and Wonder Girl having FUN.
I happen to like heroes looking COMPETENT, and WINNING, even if it's ALL the time.
I happen to like having villains go good ON THEIR OWN instead of "Zatanna made me do it!"

I was MUCH more positive about the DCU before all this. I would probably have prematurely said "WHOOHOO!!!" on hearing about a possible Kimiyo appearance in the JLA book 4 or 5 years ago, myself.

But since DiDio took over, it's all "once bitten, 975th time shy". When I see characters I like popping up ONLY to be mistreated in similar situations over and over and OVER and OVER and OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, etc., etc., ad infinitum...
I have EVERY reason to be severely cynical about how they'll be treated by the exact same regime in the future! Trust is EARNED, and the people currently running the DCU are in an extreme DEFICIT!

So, when you thank your "Wet Blanket Man", yes, it is DAN DIDIO who says "Glad to be of help, Citizen."

What I've been saying here is to be careful before jumping to conclusions about Kimiyo getting better. Again, I've seen Staredcraft here start celebrating time and again, only to later find out that there's little to celebrate about. He even specualted, after the first issue of the GA storyarc, that Judd Winick wrote the rest of that story around Kimiyo, and that she'd get healed, get her powers back, and defeat the villain by the end of the story. And even saying how clever Winick was!

Well, you see how all THAT actually turned out.
How much Kimiyo meant to the storyline after she was depowered.
How "clever" Judd Winick actually was.

I'm just warning you that things aren't always what they seem when dealing with the DiDio regime. There have been far too many "Charlie Brown" victims of the current DCU. I've heard them scream "AAUUGH!" and fall painfully on their backs, again and again and again. Don't let Lucy van DiDio fool you into trusting him, so that you get the football pulled away from YOU at the last moment, too.

Make sure you have SOLID proof that Kimiyo will be okay BEFORE you get your hopes up. Because I'm telling you, a cover that has Karate Kid, Kyle as GL, etc. as potential League members is already somewhat of a farce...

Marionette said...

I'm with Ununnilium; I think you are being a wet blanket.

Speculating that things are going to be bad has as much value as speculating that they are going to be good, but it's more depressing.

I am encouraged by the sheer number of appearances of Kimiyo since she was depowered. It may be just coincidence, but given the way characters who are dropped from continuity are often never seen again (eg. the last 2 Supergirls), having Kimiyo appear, even if only in brief flashbacks or ensemble pictures like this is evidence that she is not forgotten, and every new sighting is a cause for optimism.

Anonymous said...

I was optimistic when I first heard Kimiyo had appeared in Green Arrow # 54. Until I found out what happened, and how she was downplayed at every turn...

Now, they're going to have to show me Kimiyo in a feature role, showing that they actually like her before I'll trust them again.

Fact is, I've seen characters make appearances just before they're killed off, too.

Sorry, but "Once bitten..."

Anonymous said...

Im just hoping that they bring Celsius back..remember her?
abandoned by her father and nursed back to health by Niles Caulder who as a wedding gift infused her with immortality.
Later on when he never returned to India she discovered his death and took over his estate in the US of A.
She then made some discoveries he was alive.
She united the team,
found Negativeman also
and was constantly battling with a team that didnt trust her even though she A-financed it and B- came up with the goods.
Niles returns and says they were never married. She kills herself by trying to freeze a Gil Dispan Star Cruiser. Later on in DP it is revealed by evil Niles that he did marry her so as to expriment on her. The immortality worked- but was also eating her brain?
wow- amazing character. A woman from India, incredible martial artist, dynamic, powerful and reduced to being insane and ...well the victim of colonialism and racial genocide. Quote "as one of millions who would notice her missing..."
Anyways- I believe she is alive in the DCU, and Maybe someone will bring her back to the level she should be....fan fic is a great way to see her.
Bring back the fun.
immortal-celsius@hotmail.com
p.s I like Dr Light and think she will be fine...she is amazing on Justice league, her and Ice and Vixen....wow!

Anonymous said...

First reaction... "Cool!"

Delayed reaction... thinks of the last time she was in a Justice Leage and hopes she has a few cases of Diet Coke in her fridge.

Anonymous said...

Celsius? Sheesh, now that's obscure - the post-Silver Age pre-Morrison bad-copy-of-Teen-Titans-or-possibly-X-Men Doom Patrol.

...neat!

Anonymous said...

Latest Word from Da Meltz: "She's up for the vote. I promise."

Now, if I didn't consider Da Meltz a deeply disturbed human being with twisted logic with characters he likes, I'd be more confident.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to my world, Dan.

I'm sure Meltzer loved Sue Dibny, too. But that didn't keep her from being killed...

...and then being pregnant when killed...

...and then being retroactively raped.

Meltzer said he loved the Satellite League when he was a kid. But thanks to him, no kid today can read about the Satellite League like he did, not without running up against mature elements that they're not ready for.

"With friends like these..."

Marionette said...

Stop! Stop! My blankets are all soggy and I've had to sleep in the bath.

How about we just get on with our lives and think happy thoughts until the comic actually comes out and we can find out one way or another?

I can't be doing with all these negative waves.

If I have time, I'll try and post something about the origin of Wonder Woman's boots or like that to take our minds off.

Anonymous said...

Well how about you can still do something about Kimiyo that dosen't center so much around her depowerment...like maybe complain about her mishandling and such during JLI/E

Marc Burkhardt said...

Just seeing her in costume is reason to be optimistic. It's not like Meltzer can do much else to the character ...

(and I dearly hope those aren't famous last words ...)

Anonymous said...

"I can't be doing with all these negative waves."

Methinks thou doth protest too much.

It seems to me that quite a bit of this very blog is all about noting how writers have repeatedly mistreated female characters, to the point that we quite rightly SHOULD be skeptical about how they get treated in the future.

For example, how about the blog entry just preceeding this one? "Molly sez, Mari respondz"??

I ask you, is THIS yours:

"The women inside the pages are getting a better rap as well."

"Are you sure you didn't miss an 'e' there? (okay, that was a cheap shot, but I just saw the latest issue of Walking Dead.)"

How about THIS one:

"Today, female comic book characters aren’t just the ‘women in refrigerators” of times past. Girls can admire Ms. Marvel’s strength, Kate Bishop’s bravery, She-Hulk’s Intelligence, and Spider-Girl’s determination."

"Because at least one of those listed hasn't been sexually assaulted."

And again:

"So, yes, little girl, Cap can be real, If you want him to be."

"But finding a female superhero role model might be a little trickier."

Hey, call me a wet blanket if you must. But don't forget to call yourself one, too.

YOU set the tone of this blog.
YOU are cynical here. How can you expect all others NOT to be cynical at times, too??

The old saying is true: You reap what you sow. You sow cynicism, you reap cynicism.

In conclusion, to borrow from you one more time:

I really don't like making cynical, pessimistic statements about my favorite characters' present and future handling, so please, writers, stop abusing my favorite characters, and I won't have to do this anymore.

"Take away the fuel, and out goes the fire."
Ray Palmer once said that...

Anonymous said...

...ummmmm, yeah. You realize this is, in fact, her blog, and she can, in fact, write what she wants in it, and can also, in fact, complain about what she likes in it, including cynical comments?

She's not *making* you be cynical, and neither are the writers.

Anonymous said...

I'm well aware that this is her blog.

What I'm saying is that she can be cynical at times, too. So why should *I* be the only one persecuted for it??

Marionette said...

Because you seem determined to have the last word?