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Post by chadwilliam on Feb 26, 2016 19:41:39 GMT -5
I think writers have usually had their priorities mixed up on The Parasite. I understand that creating a villain who can not only go head to head with Superman but benefits from a greater and greater advantage the longer the fight continues is a character you should hold onto, but there was an aspect to his power that was never really focused on to any great extent. In draining his opponents, Max Jensen not only acquires their strength, but their memories as well. This was touched upon to the extent that The Parasite knew Superman's secret identity, but I thought there was always great potential in a story which explored just happened to Jensen as he absorbed another person's memories, talents, character traits, etc. Could he gain greater and greater sympathy, compassion, understanding for a foe as he drains them to the point where in his mind, he effectively becomes the person he is killing?
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Post by dupersuper on Mar 1, 2016 6:24:18 GMT -5
I think writers have usually had their priorities mixed up on The Parasite. I understand that creating a villain who can not only go head to head with Superman but benefits from a greater and greater advantage the longer the fight continues is a character you should hold onto, but there was an aspect to his power that was never really focused on to any great extent. In draining his opponents, Max Jensen not only acquires their strength, but their memories as well. This was touched upon to the extent that The Parasite knew Superman's secret identity, but I thought there was always great potential in a story which explored just happened to Jensen as he absorbed another person's memories, talents, character traits, etc. Could he gain greater and greater sympathy, compassion, understanding for a foe as he drains them to the point where in his mind, he effectively becomes the person he is killing? He did seem to be softening up back when he was impersonating Lois Lane...
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Post by Outrajs on Nov 13, 2017 8:28:49 GMT -5
Silver Swan. She had a decent background story but was just white noise inside Wonder Woman's world.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 13, 2017 12:27:51 GMT -5
Never liked how Batroc has generally been portrayed. He's supposed to be an ex-Foreign Legionnaire, a master of savate, and a pretty deadly combatant; yet, he was mostly depicted flipping around and using a Clouseau French accent, not to mention the ridiculous moustache. He was pretty much a comical figure from the start; but, his backstory is that of one seriously deadly individual. Brubaker has done a bit to rectify this and The Winter Soldier film kept him in decent territory (though the filmmakers didn't know any more about savate than the comic people). Here's real savate.. Savate also includes weapons combat, including Canne de Combat et Baton... He should have been Marvel's Arsene Lupin... Meanwhile, the French Foreign Legion is one of the toughest military units in the world. Their training makes Marines wet themselves and their esprit de corps is unparallelled. They've fought in some of the toughest battles around the world and their tenacity is legendary. Granted, much of it is hype and they were defeated at Dien Bien Phu; but, that should have been the recipe for one badass villain, not this...
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Post by mikelmidnight on Nov 13, 2017 13:01:54 GMT -5
I am a huge fan of Batroc and have been hoping for a series about him for some time.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Nov 13, 2017 13:13:05 GMT -5
When Gruenwald left the book, he finished with a plot thread suggesting that Batroc might reform, or even become the new Captain America, which of course would have been a bit odd since he's French. Unfortunately, later writers ignored that setup. I love Batroc and was really jazzed to see him possibly become a good guy.
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Post by The Captain on Nov 13, 2017 14:05:45 GMT -5
Actually, codystarbuck, in his earliest appearances in Tales of Suspense and Cap's solo series, Batroc was shown not only to be an incredibly skilled fighter, even as far as being a match for Cap, but also as having a code of honor, giving the character more depth than the Funny Frenchman he would later be depicted as. There was an issue of Heroes for Hire from a few years ago (the one with Misty Knight in charge) where Batroc fought Spidey and it was revealed that the whole French stereotype persona was a put-on so people would underestimate him. I would love it if a skilled writer would pick up on this and bring Batroc back as a serious street-level threat.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 13, 2017 14:11:00 GMT -5
When Gruenwald left the book, he finished with a plot thread suggesting that Batroc might reform, or even become the new Captain America, which of course would have been a bit odd since he's French. Unfortunately, later writers ignored that setup. I love Batroc and was really jazzed to see him possibly become a good guy. "Ah, mais oui, ah ehm Capitan Umureeka, n'est pas? Ah luv 'amboorgairs, wit zee Frennnnch Fries, und a bit of sauce Bernaise; just a hint, to add a nize touch of ze flavor. Zen, ah like to relaxezvous wit a bit of Edith Pilaf, ...er, ah mean zee Elvis Presly muzik. Ya ain't noting but a 'ound dog......." "Ah, c'est magnifique!" "...er, ah mean, ate is purtayyyyy guud, ya-all!" "Ah sink ah got away with zat one......."
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 13, 2017 14:14:46 GMT -5
Actually, codystarbuck , in his earliest appearances in Tales of Suspense and Cap's solo series, Batroc was shown not only to be an incredibly skilled fighter, even as far as being a match for Cap, but also as having a code of honor, giving the character more depth than the Funny Frenchman he would later be depicted as. There was an issue of Heroes for Hire from a few years ago (the one with Misty Knight in charge) where Batroc fought Spidey and it was revealed that the whole French stereotype persona was a put-on so people would underestimate him. I would love it if a skilled writer would pick up on this and bring Batroc back as a serious street-level threat. Like I say, generally depicted....... Still wanted real savate. It seemed like everyone in the US thought it meant a dropkick, If that was the case than 90% of pro wrestlers were savate masters.
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Post by profh0011 on Oct 17, 2020 15:29:09 GMT -5
Vibe from DC's Justice League Of America was never used correctly. He should have just pointed his fingers at people and give them massive orgasms. If you were defeated by him, that's the way to go!!!! My best friend just this week pointed out to me that the character of Cisco Ramon on " THE FLASH" tv series was named after Vibe in Justice League Detroit. My jaw dropped........
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Post by profh0011 on Oct 17, 2020 15:34:11 GMT -5
Do I understand that last bit correctly - they put his thoughts into words now in the current comics? Sorry, I maybe went too far saying that. What I should have said is that modern comics make it very clear that they think Lockjaw has limited intelligence. See the Pet Avengers series in particular. In it, Lockjaw spends most his time slobbering and putting his head on one side. Now I am fine if people want to read him in that way, but the silver age stories let you also read him as very intelligent if you wanted. But that possibility has been taken away from us. Well, you and I both know that this all started as THE problem with one person conceiving, creating, WRITING and drawing characters and stories... and his editor aggressively, carelessly, RE-WRITING the stories at the dialogue stage, either unaware or uncaring what the consequences might be as far as destroying characterizations, continuity, story logic, you name it.
And then decades of said editor's fans and followers going to extremes to defend, expand and explain his obvious F***-ups.
When Kirby does his own dialogue & narration... there ARE NO plot holes. EVER. Because he KNEW what he was doing.
And as for writing "style"... being obsessed with "classic" stories for some years now, I put Kirby in the same category as Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. Some writers, you DON'T screw with their words.
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Post by tarkintino on Oct 17, 2020 15:49:10 GMT -5
Someone really dislikes Stan Lee.
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Post by berkley on Oct 17, 2020 23:28:49 GMT -5
I've always thought Dormammu could and should have been used more effectively: the Ditko stories that introducde the character are closest to realising the potential but even then there were a few mis-steps, as I see them - most obviously the "pincers of power" episode in which Dr. Strange defeats him in physical combat, which detracted from the aura of mystery and power that had been so effectively built up in the preceding instalments of that ong story (still of of the greatest Dr. Strange stories IMO).
And then someone - was it Roy Thomas? - giving Dormammu and Umar an "origin story" that, again, accompished nothing except to make the characters feel smaller, less mysterious, more mundane. But superhero writers can never resist trying to fill in the blanks. I think their background should have been left as vague as possible, with just enough hints given to enhance the feeling that they are in some sense unfathomable, primal forces that are extremely dangerous to deal with or even to speak of (as was established in that first introductory Dr. Strange epic). "The Dread Dormammu" should never be reduced to just a fancy title, the character should always be written in such a way that that phrase feels believable to the reader.
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Post by brutalis on Oct 18, 2020 8:32:21 GMT -5
Paste Pot Pete/Trapster. Almost always gets portrayed as a fool or loser/chump. Always relying upon his paste gun when the writers should look to his name TRAPSTER for more inspiration. Take him from the C-list flop and turn him into a serious contender who has mad skills and inventiveness creating not only traps but scenarios challenging even the toughest heroes.
Pete is more than a bumbling henchman for the Wizard and deserves better. Team him up with Fixer and Mentallo and there is a trio to be reckoned with! Set him up as a trap supplier combining his skills with Kraven (another who has been used both well and poorly ove the years) complimenting each others abilities. Trapster as main villain against Hawkeye, forcing our man Clint for creating even trickier arrows and amping up his weapons ability while showcasing all his archery skills.
Trapster can and should be more capably portrayed.
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Post by Cei-U! on Oct 18, 2020 9:23:32 GMT -5
I've always thought Dormammu could and should have been used more effectively: the Ditko stories that introducde the character are closest to realising the potential but even then there were a few mis-steps, as I see them - most obviously the "pincers of power" episode in which Dr. Strange defeats him in physical combat, which detracted from the aura of mystery and power that had been so effectively built up in the preceding instalments of that ong story (still of of the greatest Dr. Strange stories IMO). And then someone - was it Roy Thomas? - giving Dormammu and Umar an "origin story" that, again, accompished nothing except to make the characters feel smaller, less mysterious, more mundane. But superhero writers can never resist trying to fill in the blanks. I think their background should have been left as vague as possible, with just enough hints given to enhance the feeling that they are in some sense unfathomable, primal forces that are extremely dangerous to deal with or even to speak of (as was established in that first introductory Dr. Strange epic). "The Dread Dormammu" should never be reduced to just a fancy title, the character should always be written in such a way that that phrase feels believable to the reader. That was Roger Stern in Dr. Strange (1974 series) #71. While I'm normally pretty enamored of Stern's Strange, I have to agree that giving Dormammu and Umar an origin--especially one revealing they began as ordinary (albeit extradimensional) humans--was a bad idea.
Cei-U! I summon one of Rog's rare misfires!
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