thevindicativevordan

[thevindicativevordan]

Who would be on your Mount Rushmore of Superman actors? For me it’s Christopher Reeve, Tom Welling, Tyler Hoechlin and Henry Cavill

Speaking strictly live-action that is the most sensible choice I would say, and it is basically where I stand though Cavill is only there because Corenswet's movie isn't out yet.

[thevindicativevordan]

why is there no more real Brave and the Bold stuff? i’d kill for more superhero team ups, i feel like a low continuity book with a new pairing each issue or arc would be amazing for new readers! you got any team ups you’d want to see more of?

Apparently anthologies sell really poorly.

[thevindicativevordan]

Basic question but who's your fav comic book villain?

Lex because he can be any villain archetype and it all feels true. You want the evil mad scientist? He can do that. You want the corrupt corporate CEO? The President of the United States? The Noble villain with sympathetic goals and a tragic backstory? The gleeful bastard who revels in his depravity? The fallen friend who could have been saved? Lex has been all those things and more. Only Doom can truly match him in that regard.

[thevindicativevordan]

Thoughts on the character Vibe? Also, why do you think his brief big push basically began and ended with the New 52?

Cool character with a neat powerset that I wish had gotten more play. DC's Latino roster is very small which I think is a big mistake given American demographics. I think it's because Johns was the only one behind the scenes pushing for him, and when Johns got spread thin with the movies, that was the end for poor Vibe.

[thevindicativevordan]

How do you feel about DCUs Superman's place in the wider universe, irt to being far from the first hero

Superman being the first hero in-universe is something I've cared less and less about over time. Even when it is the case such as in the New 52, what did it really give him other than bragging rights? Aside from the DCAU, Batman is never the first hero outside of universes where he's the only hero, and that has never hurt his popularity in-universe or out. Ditto for Spider-Man over at Marvel. Being the first public superhero did absolutely nothing for Supes in the DCEU. He was still unceremoniously demoted to Batman's sidekick within the larger Myth Arc. Superman fans who place a big emphasis on this trait are barking up the wrong tree in my opinion. You can emphasize Superman's importance more concretely by saying he's the greatest hero because he does great feats like liberate Warworld, or stop Brainiac, or stand up to the United States government when they want to bring him to heel. Instead of clinging to meaningless awards like "first", let's focus on starring Superman in stories that make the audience love him the most.

[thevindicativevordan]

Thoughts on this weeks comics?

Sorry for the delay, job hunting eats up a lot of my time.

Superman #27 - Mostly just Williamson clearing the board of the first half of his run to get back to a more "classic" feel. I don't mind it, I'm burnt out on how much focus Lex always gets in Superman runs and welcome benching him for a bit to focus on other villains. In fact I could see his return being the big finale for Williamson's run as a whole which would be cool, long as his return is Lex reclaiming his role as the archnemesis. Does anyone have any guesses where he went? My thought was that he went to that one city of the dead that Deadman protected, the name of which eludes me for the moment. I liked Pharm and Graft at the start but feel like they've worn out their welcome. They were cool as foes for a "good" Lex who went around empowering other Superman villains but as bad guys in their own right they're pretty one note. I feel bad for Barrows, I love his art but whenever I see he's drawing the book I wince because it's usually going to be a sign that the quality will dip. Still, that epilogue does have me hyped, I'm excited to see Superman meet the Darkseid Legion. If nothing else Mora will make it look pretty.

Superman Unlimited #2 - I hate seeing Kal constantly kneel over every time someone waves a speck of kryptonite in his face, so I'm on board with him going Superman Prime and powering through it. And it has a time limit to keep things tense. Damn Creeper screwed poor Supes over with outing his power loss afterwards though, that guy remains a pain in the ass. Really digging the grounded fell of this book, it's very Metropolis focused despite the kryptonite being a worldwide problem. Can't wait for Toyman next issue, it's been ages since he actually tangled with Superman!

Krypto #1 - I love Jor and Lara's outfits here. It's like a mixture of their Secret Origin and New 52 designs, Mike Norton did a fantastic job with the Krypton portions design wise. Otherwise this was very sweet, and I love the challenge North gave himself of writing a story about a character who has no dialogue or narrative boxes. Excited to see what trouble Krypto and Lex get up to next issue.

New Gods #7 - "Not bad for a Doom-Crow" lmao Metron you cheeky bastard. Practically smiled and went "all according to keikaku". He's playing everyone but to what end? V gave John a great moment with him telling the DEO to get bent and building the New Genesians a shelter. Poor Orion, seeing his "real" face come out was heartbreaking.

Absolute Martian Manhunter #4 - Wow. If you need a reason why nobody but Rodriguez could draw this book, I'll point you to this issue. What a visual masterpiece, especially the scene where Bridget hit John in the gut emotionally over her doubts regarding his love for her and their son. John is an asshole towards his wife, very bold and risky of Camp to do that with the supposed protagonist, but I love it. Humanizes him in a way despite all the weirdness, and should make things interesting when he meets the other Absolute heroes.

Absolute Wonder Woman #9 - The five Queen Clea fans I know are going to be very happy. With this second arc, Thompson is focusing on the villains now that she's laid a foundation for this version of Diana. Have to admit I'm envious that both Batman and Wonder Woman are focusing on Absolute versions of their heroes traditional Rogues while Aaron dicks around with Ra's. Why can't Superman get this kind of focus instead of always trying to shove Batcharacters or the wider DCU into his stories?

Absolute Flash #4 - This issue is where the Bendis USM influence really shone through. Heavy focus on the civilian drama with little to no super heroics. Happy to see Linda show up finally. This take on Thawne is so different from the mainline universe it's hard to predict what the plan is there. All the nods to Absolute Superman seem like clear setup for a crossover, which makes sense. Both Kal and Wally are Midwest boys in the mainline universe but not here, here they're runaways.

Ultimate Spider-Man #18 - Now the dominoes are falling. Richard gets betrayed by his girlfriend in the same issue we find out that Vanessa Fisk is one of the Mysterios meaning Kingpin has been betrayed by his wife. Pure pottery as George Lucas would say. Might we see the picosuit go full "lethal protector" next issue? I don't MJ being supportive but if ever there was cause for her to blow up emotionally, this would easily justify it.

Ultimates #13 - Camp's Anarchist Cookbook issue lol. Tony's finally getting serious about messing with time.

Aliens vs. Avengers #4 - Is it cheating to say I enjoyed this but am also a bit underwhelmed? It feels like there's still more story to be had.

Wonder Woman #22 - This reminded me of how BTAS revamped villains in the best way possible. Take a ridiculous villain and find a way to tie them to a real world issue to make them more threatening. Can't lie folks, if someone who could control an army of giant mice showed up I'd probably crap myself. I hate rodents, that Stephen King story about the rats that eat people scarred me for life. So I actually don't have any problem seeing how Mouse Man could be a serious threat and I liked him here. His ranting about fat cats is hilariously on brand, that and the Jan 6th parallels make it clear what King is going for. If Sov was the Deep State then MM is the right wing reactionary who nominally "opposes" the elite but as shown with the ending is actually being manipulated by them.

[thevindicativevordan]

Thoughts on the new trailer/ any new movie thoughts in general?

Lex is seething with rage and hatred which is awesome. “They chose him, let them die” is a perfect encapsulation of his entire deal

Krypto ripping the helmet off of Lex’s henchman so Supes can knock out some teeth is peak CBM. That and the scene with the heat vision gives me so much hope that this will be the movie that makes people realize a Superman video game can totally work

As expected Mr. Terrific looks extremely cool

Glad to hear the pre-sales are performing well

I am upset at the prospect of following this up with a World’s Finest movie like Gunn is teasing. All I want is a straight up sequel with Brainiac or Metallo, not fucking Batman AGAIN. I’d sooner take Superman in the Authority movie over that.

Well we are in the final stretch. Either Superman rises to heights he hasn’t reached since the Donner era, or this will be the last bit of dirt shoveled on his grave. Fingers crossed.

[thevindicativevordan]

What seperates a dark story and a "edgy" one in your opinion?

Edge is pure shock value whereas dark stories are trying to actually to call attention to something. Garth Ennis is a great example of both. With Crossed he was just trying to be an edgelord, he thought all the horror had been drained from zombies and wanted to try and bring that bile factor back. Meanwhile with his war comics, he is attempting to make a comment on male bonds, the impact of war, ethics, etc.

[thevindicativevordan]

With the announcement of Deadpool/Batman, do you have any personal recommendations on good Deadpool runs/comics?

anything by Duggan, Kelly, Simone, and Priest seems to have a good rep. Never been a big Deadpool fan myself though.

[thevindicativevordan]

If you were the current superman writer what would you do with the twins it seems like dc gave up on them since pkj left

Writing them out is easy. Osul ascends to New God status and goes to live with the New Genesis crew who are about to land on Earth in force. Otho goes with him because she can't bear to be separated from him for long. Superman agrees to share custody which basically means writers never have to acknowledge them, but PKJ can use them if he wants.

Now if I could keep one, I'd still have Osul go to live with the New Genesis crew but I would keep Otho. There's still narrative potential to be mined with her, especially regarding Jon. Jon is the biological son of Superman who is a chip off the old block and resembles his dad in all the ways that matter. Otho is the adopted daughter of Superman who struggles to live up to his example and occasionally goes against his rules even as she can't help admiring him. Both Jon and Otho lost their childhood to traumatic events, lived in hellish environments, and suffered under the control of foes of Superman in Ultraman/Mongul. But where Jon never broke, Otho did. She wore Warzoon chains which means she has killed! To protect herself and her brother she has crossed that line! Jon meanwhile has not, and you could do something with that. How does Jon deal with his little sister with whom he shares so much in common, but who has been willing to cross lines he refused to? How does Clark deal with this little girl who only grows more willful and rebellious as she gets older, especially now that she doesn't have to be her twin's protector anymore? I doubt that's how things will work out but I'm excited to read the mini that's coming.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Sorry for no response last week, got laid off from my work which put a damper on my will to post. But got some interviews coming up so I'm feeling more buoyant, and you get two weeks in one post!

Absolute Superman #8 - Fun issue. We got to see Kal kick ass even with a kryptonite bullet in his chest. Lois is screwed at the end, she’s definitely out of a job, and I’m curious how she’s even going to survive the interrogation she’s certain to undergo. Did break my heart a little to get confirmation that Martha has dementia/Alzheimer’s, my grandma had that so it’s a soft spot for me. The Omega Men have Boom tubes?!? Yeah these guys are definitely connected to Darkseid, calling it now, there are the precursors to the Absolute Legion. Jimmy being a member now is even more fitting given his book was where Darkseid debuted publication wise. Also I’m back to thinking Primus is Talia, Ra’s says he doesn’t have a son (and presumably wants Kal for that role for some reason), but he by no means says he doesn’t have any daughters. Really wish Ra’s was Vandal Savage if he couldn’t be someone like Ultra-Humanite, he totally looks like Vandal with his ponytail. At least now Kal finally has a motive for going to Metropolis to take him down. Curious to find out what the status of the Daily Planet is in a world where Supes, Lois, and Jimmy don't work there.

Absolute Batman #9 - Bane broke the Bat without even breaking a sweat. When the book started it was hard to see this Batman as an underdog. After getting his ass kicked twice now by both Freeze and Bane, he's starting to be one in truth. Excited to learn more about what this Bane's backstory is, he doesn't come across as a dumb brute thankfully, and he's basically got the ability to Hulk out (or maybe Abomination is a better comparison given the arc title?). Reminds me of the Titan Formula from the Arkham games. BatCat scene was cute, two of them having sex on a pile of money is completely on brand. Sucks that Snyder isn't a bigger fan of the two of them because he writes them well!

Action Comics #1087 - Wasn't a fan of Waid's first run on Action, but this was a big step up in quality. Great art too, Patridge draws the Kents like their Smallville incarnations which suits the dynamics Waid is going for and makes me personally happy. Page where Clark froze because he realized he didn't know how hard he could hit Raze without killing him was great. Reminded me of how MAWS Clark didn't know he was bulletproof until he jumped in front to shield Lois from gunfire which makes total sense. How the hell would you ever find out how hard you can punch someone, or that your invulnerability extends to bullets, unless you actually test it? But obviously you wouldn't want to test that unless you have to because you could end up dead or killing someone else. I like Raze, Patridge did an excellent job with his design, the cynical villain who shows up to promote a dystopic tomorrow is a neat concept for Superboy to face off against, especially since Clark has been to the future himself with the Legion. Very excited to see what the deal is with Sam Lane, I love him as a foe for Superman, but boy am I hoping that's not Inferno/LoD he's taking orders from. Waid promised me a new Rogues Gallery for Superboy and he's starting strong, give me more new bad guys Waid!

Resurrection Man #3 - Still excellent! Go check it out!

Imperial #1 - If I had been keeping up with Marvel Cosmic I expect I would be vexed at how loose Hickman seems to be playing with continuity but I wasn't so I'm not. T'Challa's got his work cut out for him.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #1 - This was so bad I immediately dropped the book. Does nothing interesting with Miles meeting 6160 Peter and Richard. Feels like Marvel just wants to wrap that plot hook up ASAP, other than maybe Miles telling the Illuminati where the Maker is this whole book felt superfluous. Cool costume for Miles though.

[thevindicativevordan]

How many asks do you have in your inbox right now? Just curious

Loads, over 100 for sure. Some I'm saving for the future, others I don't have an answer for, some I'm slowly working on over time, and others are just rotting there.

[thevindicativevordan]

Blue beetle for 31M views on YouTube Vs Supermans 53M. Fantastic 4 has 24M and JW has 18M. I definitely understand not setting yourself up for disappointment but I think Superman definitely has a higher level of excitement then everything else

Digging this back up because BOT is very bullish on Superman's box office projections. Everything thus far has been encouraging, and believe me, I want to be optimistic. "Once burned, twice shy" though, as I've never quite recovered from the hype and excitement I had going into the DCEU.

[thevindicativevordan]

Hey, love your blog. Do you think Absolute Batman should actually kill people? I don't mean in a full on Punisher/Judge Dredd way but maybe in the moment/self defence/ fuck this particular guy way? I dunno I like him not killing as a rule but I kinda feel the way they go on and on about it in the main version gets very lame and Absolute could experiment with that (preferably without out being lamely edgy like BvS)

I'm going to say no to deliberately killing because Scott Snyder is very much in the camp of "Batman shouldn't kill". Now Absolute Batman inadvertently or accidentally killing someone? *That* could potentially be interesting. Would also fit this Batman more, his lack of resources means he shouldn't have total control of every combat scenario like his mainline counterpart does.

[thevindicativevordan]

Your post on Doomsday/Time Trapper was very interesting, but it made me quesion something : shouldn't Kara also be near-immortal like Clark and be with him throughout the billions of years to come ? Sure it wouldn't completely erase the feeling of loneliness but it would reduce it.

She *should* be, but no Kryptonian survivors outside of Kal actually achieves immortality in any future stories. As for why that is? You can make up any headcanon to explain it, I like to think that achieving the golden Prime form takes more than simply soaking up solar energy. Maybe there's a spiritual component of it that would render someone like Zod incapable, but that would still leave the problem of Kara specifically. I personally go with Kara forsaking immortality because she would rather reunite with her parents in the Kryptonian afterlife. Perhaps Kal is able to achieve it because he can't bring himself to choose between which afterlife, human or Kryptonian, he wants to go to, and elects to put the problem off indefinitely.

[thevindicativevordan]

Wow, a whole new wave of DCU announcements ! And unfortunately no new WW content. You think there's a reason as to why that is, when Gunn said he was pushing for a WW animated series and they can do female-lead AS ? Maybe they're just waiting for the game to be ready for synergy ?

You can tell this one has been sitting in my Asks for a while. Wondy fans aren't happy, with good reason. They shouldn't have to sit here twiddling their thumbs while there are supposedly two Batman film franchises in production, their video game got cancelled while RS is making more Arkhamslop, and Gunn's promise of a WW cartoon has yet to materialize. I'd be inclined to be more generous if Gunn was holding off on everything until Superman released, but he already pushed through Supergirl and Clayface, so what's the holdup? At this point everyone is well over Gadot.

[thevindicativevordan]

Do you think biting the bullet and doing new Krypton again could have the potential to be Krakoa for Superman

Absolutely!