Cyborg: Where's The Love?
Looking at this cover for the new "Titans East" book, I just have to ask: why is Cyborg always trotted out as the "resident black guy" every time DC does licensing yet he can't be the star of his own team book cover?
Cyborg has been around for around 25 years, has totally proven himself, and deserves more. It's not like he's a crappy character. But on this cover he's playing second-fiddle to "Mimboy" from the latest "Supergirl" series -- one of the worst characters ever created.
Where is the love for Cyborg, DC?
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ReplyDeleteWinnick (who is writing this) has said that we won't see the actual, final line-up until the first issue of the new series.
ReplyDeleteSo the team on this one-shot intro is not permanent.
As problematic as Cyborg's placement is, I have a sneaking suspicion Cyborg will be the only one who makes it out of the issue alive.
And then Nightwing, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire will team up with a Cyborg who has new cybernetic-enhanced emo powers. And we can get the rumored old-new Titans book, I've been hearing about.
Another "Oh young newbs try to emulate 20 something former teen idols, and get killed - with lots of blood!! Looks like us original Titans got to get back together and be all angsty about how we let down the kids!"
That would be the third massacre of Teen Titans in as many years (Infinite Crisis, World War 3).
Not to mention, I actually like Lagoon Boy and Son of Vulcan. And I think that girl in purple is Amethyst, who looks 10 different kinds of adorable on this cover: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Amethystprincess.jpg
Isn't the Vulcan kid 14 years old? How old are the new Hawk and Dove? How old was Conner Kent?
It was totally awesome when it was (SPOILER) Kid Miracleman (SPOILER), but that doesn't mean that it's *always* awesome when you murder a teenager in a book about teens.
Plus, if "Mimboy" presumably bites it too, how do you rectify his creepy stalker character with his tragic sacrifice that will be the driving point of a new series?
This is all pessimistic, wild speculation...
but it's DC. I wouldn't put it passed them.
"As problematic as Cyborg's placement is, I have a sneaking suspicion Cyborg will be the only one who makes it out of the issue alive."
ReplyDeleteoh, that would be cool. it is the only reason that would explain away this lame line-up -- and actually, it's pretty plausible.
An opening salvo to "Final Crisis" by liquidating a teen superhero team -- just like in "Civil War." (not that I'm comparing NW to the "lame titans," Mr. G.)
I think for all his icky stalkeriness, if Mimboy could allow himself to be sacrificed so we wouldn't have to see his stupidness anymore, I could almost forgive him. Win/win.
"An opening salvo to "Final Crisis" by liquidating a teen superhero team -- just like in "Civil War." (not that I'm comparing NW to the "lame titans," Mr. G.)"
ReplyDeleteYeah, but when I saw this image, my first thought was "oh boy these Titans are going to get slaughtered - again!"
I'm just not surprised by that twist anymore. It was great in Milligan's first issue of X-Force, but something else needs to be done.
I guess, I'm just done with the "dead teens" plot point. Especially cause I don't feel like DC capitalized on the deaths of all the other Titans. Unless, I'm mistaking, there hasn't been too much fallout/discussion to IC or WW3.
Meanwhile, Marvel does it once with Civil War, and seems to get it done right. Even now with Dan Slott's Initiative, they hit the same notes, but do it effectively.
I know these are just fictional characters and all, but I have never been more suspicious that DC won't just kill a character that isn't Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman/Power Girl/Donna Troy/Hal Jordan.
It just makes me lose interest in the product. I don't want to invest the time or money into books/characters/writers if DC won't promise to give them a little breathing room.
If nothing else, I'm just a sucker for those group splash pages of all the former teammates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Young_Justice_Ext.png
http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/3776321.html
If they keep killing off old teammates, who is going to be left?
"I know these are just fictional characters and all, but I have never been more suspicious that DC won't just kill a character that isn't Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman/Power Girl/Donna Troy/Hal Jordan.
ReplyDeleteIt just makes me lose interest in the product. I don't want to invest the time or money into books/characters/writers if DC won't promise to give them a little breathing room.
totally get you on allowing characters room to grow, but surely the notion that a character is in genuine danger of dying is a good thing, as it ramps up the drama. Think of Buffy: whilst it was always unlikely Joss would kill of one of the big four (permanently that is) anyone else was fair game. The movie Pitch Black was the same: a cast of unknowns meant the only person i felt confident wouldn't cark it was Vin Diesel, and the drama - and peril - felt all the more exciting for it.
I'm sure some will make it out okay, but Power Boy is either going to have some sort of repentance thing or they'll beat down on him.
ReplyDelete"totally get you on allowing characters room to grow, but surely the notion that a character is in genuine danger of dying is a good thing, as it ramps up the drama."
ReplyDeleteIt's not that I don't want any characters to die ever, it's just I feel like DC has used this device too often, too recently.
I'm talking about the mass culling of minor characters. I'm fine with that plot twist (I still love Eclipso #13 which gets rid of a bunch of C-listers). But I feel that DC is using it too much, lately.
I felt like Conner Kent and all the old Titans who were killed by Superboy-Prime, in IC, effectively conveyed that danger of "anyone can die at any moment!"
Then when they did it again in WW3, it was just "okay."
Now I suspect that they will do it again - not because they are capitalizing on the "anything can happen" belief, but because it is easy story telling. They know it works and it gets attention, so they'll do it because its convenient. I'm already talking about it, and it hasn't even happened yet!
I just think the idea of the first issue fake-out has been done enough lately. If the point is to get to a classic Marv Wolfman line-up, why not just advertise it as such?
But if DC wants the driving theme to be "the guilt over the death of Power Boy hangs over the Titans' heads" why couldn't they do it with Impulse or Conner Kent or Bushido or Pantha or Wildebeest or the new Terra or Young Frankenstein or Spoiler or Jack Drake?
It just seems like lately, if DC attempts a new plot direction, there are going to keep repeating the story, until they get it just right.
Hey OS—great dispatches from San Diego. Welcome home.
ReplyDeleteAnyway….anyone who has read my own blog knows that I don’t hold Judd Winick's body of work in comic book storytelling in very high esteem—to put a point on it, I think he’s a no-talent ass clown.
My beef against him includes (but is not limited to) 1) That he hijacks shared characters; 2) all of his own characters have the same smarmy, sexed-up, one-dimensional personalities; 3) he disregards earlier continuity to the point where it logically interferes with the plot/story; 4) he disrespects the work of writers who proceed him.
I rejoiced when I found that his Outsiders book had been canceled when I had been publicly calling for either Winick to be removed from the book and/or take Nightwing of the team (and out of Winick’s hands)—now I found that one or perhaps even both things have come to pass.
So I’m dismayed to find that he has apparently commandeered Cyborg as the lynch pin of the otherwise unimpressive Titans East one-shot.
Even if you don’t share my distain of Winick’s work, I can sense general wariness about Titans East as it’s been presented.
Let me point out the two operative words “one-shot.” If NO ONE picks up the Titans East one-shot, then hopefully this doomed-to-be-flawed idea will die stillborn and thus Free Cyborg from captivity.
Cyborg DOES need some love!
ReplyDeleteGiven his exposure on the Teen Titans cartoon and his usage on Smallville, there's no good reason why DC doesn't show him some love!
They should at least test the waters with a mini. I'm certain there are scads of competent professionals out there with some great ideas for Vic.
Starting with Mr. Wolfman, and running through a list as long as most peoples' arms. But he's already working on Nightwing and just about done with the Raven mini-series script, right?
ReplyDelete