boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (12/22/84)
> From: mhuxt!js2j (Jeff Sonntag) > The green shape changing guy gets a telephone call saying that the blond > mute guy may have some information the government wants. The green shape > changing guy then assumes that the blond guy is a traitor; he turns into a > green lion and chases the blond guy around, after ignoring the blond guy's > attempt to explain. The blond guy escapes. Later, when his teammates ask > what has happened, he lies to them by omission (i.e., he tells them that > the blond guy knocked him out, but not that he attacked the blond guy first > for no reason.) > So what's the story? Is TOTTT about ordinary people with a lot of hang- > ups, vices, irrational fears, who just happen to have superpowers? > If the green shape changer ALWAYS acts this stupid, lies to his teammates, > etc., why do they keep him around? > I mean, I don't think I'd like heroes to be portrayed as PERFECT, but there > must be some middle ground between that and portraying them as complete > jerks. I'm sorry to say that you managed to get victimized by what is the biggest objection many others have to the serial nature of many of today's comics. The new reader coming in doesn't know the characters all that well, and he's dumped in the middle of a story and is trying to figure out just what is going on. Maybe if I give you some background, you'll have a better understanding of the motivations behind Changeling's actions. The Changeling is a character that's been around since the mid-60's, known then as Beast Boy, and was running around with a group called the Doom Patrol. He was an orphan who was adopted by a couple of members of the DP. Any- ways, in the years since, his foster parents were killed, and two others of his friends from the DP were thought to be dead also. And though he became the ward of a multi-millionaire, he was treated as an outcast by most people. He eventually found a nice "home" in the Teen Titans. The kicker came, though, in a storyline that went on for about a year and a half. He rescued a girl, Tara Markov, from terrorists. She turned out to have super-powers, but couldn't use them against her captors because her parents' lives were threatened. Anyways, she was taken into the Titans, and Changeling fell in love with her. He's always been portrayed as a horny little guy, but of course, he was a little too young for Starfire or Wonder Girl. Tara, however, was his age, and he fell like a ton of bricks. Context suggests that though he's had girlfriends before, this was his first real love. As it turned out, Tara's story was so much horse pucky. In reality, not only was she rotten to the core, but she was "planted" in the Titans by her partner, who was the Titans' deadliest enemy, the Terminator. To make a long story short, Tara turned against the Terminator by the end of the storyline (not because she reformed, but because she went completely over the edge, and thought he was wimping out on her). She ended up getting killed, which proved a terrible blow to Changeling. At first, he was unable to accept the fact that she was evil, but once it sunk in that she was, he still felt that she could've been rehabilitated. He blames the Terminator for the whole thing and hates him with a passion that is probably only equaled by Luthor's hatred for Superman. Now, to complicate matters, Jericho, the "blond mute guy" is the Terminator's son. Though we haven't been given any indication of how he feels about his father, we know that there is no love lost between his mother and his father (mainly because his father was responsible for his muteness). Changeling, fueled by his hatred for the Terminator, and still bitter from Tara's death and betrayal, is simply taking it all out on Joe Wilson. His actions certainly aren't excusable, but they are understandable, given the background. It's unfortunate that one has to have this background to understand the character motivations, but then, Marvel is most certainly no better in this regard. Any longtime reader of THE X-MEN may know what Wolverine is really like, but how would a new reader react to some of his worse moments? And how would a new reader react to Rhodey's antagonism to Stark in Iron Man? > BTW, what are the best DC titles? Since you have been a Marvel reader, it might be a good idea to mention what I think are Marvel's best, so you might get a handle on where my tastes lie. In my humble opinion, top rank Marvel books are: DR. STRANGE, THOR, POWER PACK, and FANTASTIC FOUR. Second rank are: THE NEW MUTANTS, THE X-MEN, and ALPHA FLIGHT. Relatively recent MARVEL mini-series and Epic comics of note are: MACHINE MAN, CRASH RYAN, and TIMESPIRITS (This last hasn't been around long enough to form a concrete opinion yet, but I like it so far). With that in mind, similar honors for DC are as follows. In the top rank are: SWAMP THING, both TEEN TITANS comics, BLUE DEVIL, and anything with Ambush Bug in it (currently, every other issue of ACTION COMICS, though the latest issue is not the best story). SWAMP THING, incidentally, is the best written comic currently on the stands; its writer, Alan Moore, is without peer. Second rank DC's are: the two LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES comics, ALL-STAR SQUADRON, and ATARI FORCE (seriously!). CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS looks promising, too, though this might be another situation where not having been a long-time DC reader, a lot of what goes on here may go completely over your head. And while you're at it, try some of the independents, too. Some of the best comics done today are published by First Comics, Aardvark-Vanaheim, and Eclipse Comics, among others. Titles to look for are (First:) AMERICAN FLAGG!, JON SABLE, GRIMJACK, and NEXUS; (Eclipse:) ZOT, SOMERSET HOLMES (the first four issues were done by Pacific Comics, the fifth and sixth (last) by Eclipse), THE MASKED MAN (due to start any day now), CROSSFIRE, and AXEL PRESSBUTTON; (Aardvark-Vanaheim:) CEREBUS, MS. TREE, and JOURNEY (which is moving to Fantagraphics Books). Others to look for are LOVE AND ROCKETS and DALGODA (Fantagraphics), THE SPIRIT and STEVE CANYON MAGAZINE (Kitchen Sink), STIG'S INFERNO and MISTER X (Vortex), and WALLY WOOD'S T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS (Deluxe). I'm sure that some have slipped my mind, but this'll give you a start. Happy reading! --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
ma155abl@sdcc7.UUCP (Nick the Awesome) (01/03/85)
Lets all give a hand to Jerry Boyajian for the way he handled that question. It seems that in other newsgroups if such a question was asked, the poster would get the flaming toaster. -Nick Flor [fd2skj af2ds;k ljfdkl; ad2s,asf2jad2sjfkjf,jfd;jfad2skj j d2k] ma155abl [ak f2jkal;j f2;lkasj fd2ka;lj d2sflk fdjdslk jafdakj sfetc...] hp-sdd!nick (mail paths, who needs 'em)