boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (09/28/84)
> From: dartvax!johnfr 23-Sep-1984 23:27:01 > John Freeman > But what I want to write about is something that I want to see > if anyone else has noticed/would like to comment on... > I am referring to the recent changes in some of the major DC > and Marvel characters....for example: Well, if you've been reading this newsgroup for a while, you must certainly have seen that we've *noticed* these changes. > b) Thor has lost the identity of Don Blake...this is a change I > whole-heartedly approve of, but it seems to make Thor far less > vulnerable in many ways...and he has always been Don Blake, or so > it seems to me...no more Don now... Yeah, I never could quite understand this one. When Odin removed the enchant- ment, I rather assumed that henceforth Thor would change to Don Blake *only when he wanted to*, and not when he lost hold of the hammer for one minute. It seems to me that Blake was too useful as a doctor to just up and get rid of him. > c) the break-up of the (eternal) Justic League...during which, I > feel they lost about 75% of their raw power (and some of their > effectivness maybe?)...I am not sure what J'onn Jonzz is still > capable of, so I am leaving them with some power... You only give it 75%? As far as I can see, *either* Superman or Green Lantern was as powerful as the whole present JLA put together. I can't see any rationale whatsoever for disbanding the old JLA in order to increase effec- tiveness. J'onn J'onzz is pretty damn powerful, probably second in strength amongst DC's superheroes only to Superman, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman (not counting the 30th Century heroes). And no, this doesn't contradict what I said previously --- Superman is still a lot stronger than J'onn. As for reasons why Marvel and DC are making these changes: I think the answer for DC is obvious --- simplicity. The DC Multiverse has just gotten too com- plicated and new readers are probably confused about what's what. The less com- plicated the continuity, the room they have to play around. Marvel? Well, I think the answer there can be summed up in 2 words: "Jim" and "Shooter". A few years ago, their was a ruckus in fandom when the rumor made the rounds that Shooter wanted to radically change the Marvel Universe around. When the fans went up in arms, Shooter flatly denied that he ever contemplated these changes. Two years later: voila! Many of the changes proposed ended up taking place after all: Don Blake was eliminated, someone else became Iron Man, et al. I just think that Shooter's obcessed with his own self-importance. (And by the way, it's "Rhodey", not "Roddey") --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov75!boyajian ^^ ARPA: boyajian%akov75.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA ^^ ***NOTE*** Temporary change of address to dec-akov75 To be in effect until 2 October 1984.
johnfr@dartvax.UUCP (John Freeman) (09/30/84)
(Does this first line really get munched up? More's the pity...)
As this is my first attempt at posting an article on the net,
please bear with me, and be forewarned of any wierd mistakes that
may crop up in it...I am doing good (for me) to just be able to
sign on and write it...but I have been reading the net for some
time, so I am not completely unaware...I am also fairly knowledgeable
on the major (heroes, ect...) titles of DC and Marvel, and do not
pretend to be too up on most 'off' lines...
But what I want to write about is something that I want to see
if anyone else has noticed/would like to comment on...
I am referring to the recent changes in some of the major DC
and Marvel characters....for example:
a) the recent break up of the Fantastic Four...nothing new, I admit,
but this time Benjy is getting his own magizine, where Marvel can
put him through all sorts of cutsie escapades...
b) Thor has lost the identity of Don Blake...this is a change I
whole-heartedly approve of, but it seems to make Thor far less
vulnerable in many ways...and he has always been Don Blake, or so
it seems to me...no more Don now...
c) the break-up of the (eternal) Justic League...during which, I
feel they lost about 75% of their raw power (and some of their
effectivness maybe?)...I am not sure what J'onn Jonzz is still
capable of, so I am leaving them with some power...the new group
could prove interesting, although more of a justice league of
AMERICA, with their off-world, cosmic type adventures reduced....
note:I do find it hard to believe that none of the other 'charter'
memebers showed up at the UN, since the meeting was announed for
a week, but that's the way the cookie (JLA) crumbles...
d) Hal Jordan loosing (giving up by choice) the power ring...
he was offered the Crimson Mantle of Command, and was called the
greatest ring-slinger of all time...I wonder at Stewart's
inexperience when he has to do something 'cosmic' with the ring..
e) And Tony Stark losing the Iron Man Armor...that really shocked
me...Tony knows all the inns and outs of the armor, and really
created it for himself...he was Iron Man when the 'Golden Avenger
was Grey', and was getting exceptionally good at it...he beat the
Hulk (one punch, but a good one...)...and god knows what will
happen to Roddey when Dr. Doom decides to finally seek his long-
sought revenge....I seriously doubt that Roddey would have been
much help in aiding Doom to build the time machine that returned
he and Tony to our time...
Now, as for why I think that Marvel and DC are making these (among
other) sweeping changes in their major chacaters, who are usually
very stable...
Firstly, I think that both companies and their readers were getting
a little tired with the mainstay characters, who had become a bit
stagnant...and this will allow some new elements to enter into the
characters that couldn't previously even be considered...it will
also allow the companies more room to 'fool around' with their characters
and offer the readers newer, more innovative story-lines...sort
of like a breath of fresh air for the readers...I know that I am
glad to see some of the changes, while others surprise me...
And secondly, I think that DC and Marvel are trying to boost their
sales in a big way...I admit that perhaps the comics that these
changes occur in my be big items, but I think it is more that
the companies want to pull in newer readers...and with a new
group or character(s), it is easy to get in on the ground floor
of a comic, and figure out what is going on...before, a reader
might have had to buy a magizine for 6-7 issues to figure out the
story line...and most people wouldn't put up with a title for that
long, much less shell out that $$ unless they could figure out
what was going on in the comic...
I will say that I feel that the first reason is the more powerful
of the two, just plain stagnation...
Well, that's all I have to say for my introductory article on the
con...I'd like to hear what the rest of the net has to say
on this, or even if anyone has noticed the changes I have...
John Freeman
(Dartmouth College)