|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 7, 2018 7:28:09 GMT -5
This thread is really cool... when I first read these... I had no idea who Grant Morrison was or what he was about... I was just happy there was a real JLA again. Having your analysis is really cool! I'm not really a fan of him (I think he thinks he's too smart), but you could almost convince me  It's generally subtle and underplayed as it is here.. but Kyle has always been more of a 'playa' than most superheroes.. I mean, he dated Donna Troy not all that long after Alex got 'fridged', was constantly looking at other women on panel.. then had the on-off relationship with Jade, etc. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2018 10:09:40 GMT -5
Tomorrow Woman was a coolest concept that Grant Morrison ever came up with (I don't know he gets credit for it) but it was breath of fresh air when she was introduced here. A Jean Grey wannabe and that's made her unique in the DC Comics Universe.  And, I had a hard time dealing with the Blue Electric Superman back then ...
|
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 7, 2018 11:11:48 GMT -5
I didn't mind Electric Blue Superman.... I mean, we all knew it was temporary, I found it a fine change of pace. to this day I'm still surprised they didn't resolve it by giving the electric Blue powers to someone in the supporting cast.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cheswick on Dec 7, 2018 11:30:25 GMT -5
I didn't mind Electric Blue Superman.... I mean, we all knew it was temporary, I found it a fine change of pace. to this day I'm still surprised they didn't resolve it by giving the electric Blue powers to someone in the supporting cast. They actually did give the powers to someone else a few years later when, in the Superman comic, they gave them to a character named Sharon Vance. |
|
|
|
Post by rberman on Dec 7, 2018 17:28:30 GMT -5
Two updates It turns out that Morrison wasn't alone in bringing super-powered mutants into the DC Universe. Teenaged Jim Shooter, a secret FOOM, did it back in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #221 (1976):  I also forgot to mention that JLA Secret Files #1 also had a Mark Millar back-up story, "A Day in the Life of the Martian Manhunter," which among other things showed J'onn and Aquaman trading monitor duty.  Legionnaires used to be expected to do this sort of absurd shift work as well, as shown in these early Paul Levitz-era panels:   This idea of superheroes sitting around, staring at monitors and dispatching their teammates to trouble spots, has not aged well. Kurt Busiek showed its absurdity, and the likely alternative, in his excellent story of Marella Cowper, superhero call center employee, in Astro City Vol. 3 #2-3 (2013).  |
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 7, 2018 17:31:12 GMT -5
I'd forgotten how awful Howard Porter's art was on JLA.
|
|
|
|
Post by rberman on Dec 7, 2018 17:46:37 GMT -5
Tomorrow Woman was a coolest concept that Grant Morrison ever came up with (I don't know he gets credit for it) but it was breath of fresh air when she was introduced here. A Jean Grey wannabe and that's made her unique in the DC Comics Universe. It was a good story. This is also a good image to illustrate Porter's tinyhead problem. Look how many heads tall Tomorrow Woman is! But I like his art with Dell fine overall. |
|
|
|
Post by coinilius on Dec 7, 2018 17:56:58 GMT -5
Really enjoying this thread so far!
Are you going to look at the JLA/WildCATs crossover as well? It is also by Grant Morrison from this period, featuring the electric blue Superman and the Lord of Time as the villain.
|
|
|
|
Post by rberman on Dec 7, 2018 17:59:59 GMT -5
Really enjoying this thread so far! Are you going to look at the JLA/WildCATs crossover as well? It is also by Grant Morrison from this period, featuring the electric blue Superman and the Lord of Time as the villain. Yes, it is upcoming. |
|
|
|
Post by Chris on Dec 7, 2018 18:28:59 GMT -5
Tomorrow Woman describes herself essentially as Jean Grey, so much so that I’m surprised that DC allowed Morrison to write a story about a telekinetic mutant heroine.  It turns out that Morrison wasn't alone in bringing super-powered mutants into the DC Universe. Teenaged Jim Shooter, a secret FOOM, did it back in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #221 (1976) While I won't say Morrison didn't have Jean Grey in mind* and there may be a bit of similarity, given that Jean had telekinesis, Tomorrow Woman is not really based on her, or any other Marvel Mutants. Tomorrow Woman is pretty much a shout-out to DC's Captain Comet. Like the Captain, Tomorrow Woman says she is a mutant with telekinetic powers. She claimed to be born ahead of her time, like Captain Comet, who was born 100,000 years ahead of his time. And her array of powers is far more in line with the Captain's than with any of Marvel's one-trick-power mutants. And to the best of my minimal X-Men knowledge, Jean's telekinesis was far more limited and straightforward than TW's. At least until she became Phoenix, which is a whole different ballpark by far. And Captain Comet first appeared in 1951, before the X-Men (1963 or thereabouts, I believe), or the Shooter-created mutant above (1976). * No one can ever say for sure what Morrison ever has in mind. |
|
|
|
Post by rberman on Dec 7, 2018 19:06:29 GMT -5
Tomorrow Woman describes herself essentially as Jean Grey, so much so that I’m surprised that DC allowed Morrison to write a story about a telekinetic mutant heroine. It turns out that Morrison wasn't alone in bringing super-powered mutants into the DC Universe. Teenaged Jim Shooter, a secret FOOM, did it back in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #221 (1976) While I won't say Morrison didn't have Jean Grey in mind* and there may be a bit of similarity, given that Jean had telekinesis, Tomorrow Woman is not really based on her, or any other Marvel Mutants. Tomorrow Woman is pretty much a shout-out to DC's Captain Comet. Like the Captain, Tomorrow Woman says she is a mutant with telekinetic powers. She claimed to be born ahead of her time, like Captain Comet, who was born 100,000 years ahead of his time. And her array of powers is far more in line with the Captain's than with any of Marvel's one-trick-power mutants. And to the best of my minimal X-Men knowledge, Jean's telekinesis was far more limited and straightforward than TW's. At least until she became Phoenix, which is a whole different ballpark by far. And Captain Comet first appeared in 1951, before the X-Men (1963 or thereabouts, I believe), or the Shooter-created mutant above (1976). * No one can ever say for sure what Morrison ever has in mind. Thank you. I wasn't familiar with Captain Comet, but after reading up on him, what you say makes perfect sense. Morrison always was more a DC guy, whereas my own experience naturally leads me to think of similar Marvel characters. Captain Comet had pretty much all the superpowers, from what I can tell; he was quite the proto-Mary Sue. Here he is in civilian guise, showing some strength, toughness, and TK in his first appearance (Strange Adventures #9, 1951), which was by Broome and Infantino.  I couldn't find a reference to him being a mutant, but the bit about being "born ahead of my time" could not be more spot-on. |
|
|
|
Post by Cheswick on Dec 7, 2018 20:23:57 GMT -5
While I won't say Morrison didn't have Jean Grey in mind* and there may be a bit of similarity, given that Jean had telekinesis, Tomorrow Woman is not really based on her, or any other Marvel Mutants. Tomorrow Woman is pretty much a shout-out to DC's Captain Comet. Like the Captain, Tomorrow Woman says she is a mutant with telekinetic powers. She claimed to be born ahead of her time, like Captain Comet, who was born 100,000 years ahead of his time. And her array of powers is far more in line with the Captain's than with any of Marvel's one-trick-power mutants. And to the best of my minimal X-Men knowledge, Jean's telekinesis was far more limited and straightforward than TW's. At least until she became Phoenix, which is a whole different ballpark by far. And Captain Comet first appeared in 1951, before the X-Men (1963 or thereabouts, I believe), or the Shooter-created mutant above (1976). * No one can ever say for sure what Morrison ever has in mind. Thank you. I wasn't familiar with Captain Comet, but after reading up on him, what you say makes perfect sense. Morrison always was more a DC guy, whereas my own experience naturally leads me to think of similar Marvel characters. Captain Comet had pretty much all the superpowers, from what I can tell; he was quite the proto-Mary Sue. Here he is in civilian guise, showing some strength, toughness, and TK in his first appearance (Strange Adventures #9, 1951), which was by Broome and Infantino. I couldn't find a reference to him being a mutant, but the bit about being "born ahead of my time" could not be more spot-on. It was in that same issue.
imgur.com/a/cR84viT
Morrison eventually wrote a version of Captain Comet during his New 52 run on Action Comics. It was one of my favorite parts of that run.
|
|
|
|
Post by Chris on Dec 7, 2018 20:26:19 GMT -5
Here he is in civilian guise, showing some strength, toughness, and TK in his first appearance (Strange Adventures #9, 1951), which was by Broome and Infantino. I couldn't find a reference to him being a mutant, but the bit about being "born ahead of my time" could not be more spot-on. From that same issue.  Edit: I see Cheswick just barely beat me to it. |
|
|
|
Post by badwolf on Dec 7, 2018 22:16:41 GMT -5
Tomorrow Woman was a coolest concept that Grant Morrison ever came up with (I don't know he gets credit for it) but it was breath of fresh air when she was introduced here. A Jean Grey wannabe and that's made her unique in the DC Comics Universe. It was a good story. This is also a good image to illustrate Porter's tinyhead problem. Look how many heads tall Tomorrow Woman is! But I like his art with Dell fine overall. Not so much a tiny head as ridiculously long legs. Everything down to her waist looks fine. |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Dec 7, 2018 23:08:44 GMT -5
I don't know Porter's work at all but I wonder if the poor quality here was due more to 90s editorial policy rather than to the artist - because I find almost everything I've seen of superhero art in the 90s looks bad to me.
|
|
