tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post7192640569627268296..comments2024-03-27T08:49:38.786-03:00Comments on Siskoid's Blog of Geekery: Who's the Vanquisher?Siskoidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-66096504297069942402015-02-01T12:25:49.849-04:002015-02-01T12:25:49.849-04:00Rumor has it he was mistakenly picked to face OMAC...Rumor has it he was mistakenly picked to face OMAC because of a clerical error ("One Van Army Corps"). SPELLING COUNTS, PEOPLE.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-80898597810752751202015-01-31T09:13:31.704-04:002015-01-31T09:13:31.704-04:00Well, there's always the Vansquisher (the titu...Well, there's always the Vansquisher (the titular character of this article). If you have any kind of van, he can squish it. A VW Westfalia? Squished. Van Morrison or Van Halen? Squished. Van De Kamp's fish fillets? Squished. Alien scientist, ancient sorcerer? So long as "Van" is in their name, squished.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-10759226265894023722015-01-29T21:53:42.390-04:002015-01-29T21:53:42.390-04:00Hawkman is one of those characters that can work i...Hawkman is one of those characters that can work in any story, if properly written. He's equal parts scientific and mystic, blatant and subtle, cosmic and earthbound... I genuinely can't think of any other character that does do many things that well.American Hawkmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-86485957505658606772015-01-28T22:38:07.964-04:002015-01-28T22:38:07.964-04:00Anon: For AmHawk and I discussing how to save Hawk...Anon: For AmHawk and I discussing how to save Hawkman, check out Arrowed: Hawkworld not too far down on this here blog.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-58787205533557564162015-01-28T22:28:05.239-04:002015-01-28T22:28:05.239-04:00By the way, how would you fix Hawkman? I've g...By the way, how would you fix Hawkman? I've got my ideas (we've ALL got ideas), but I'm guessing you have a better feel for the character than I do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-84611116790982352522015-01-28T22:13:37.837-04:002015-01-28T22:13:37.837-04:00I hadn't heard that about Guy Gardner before. ...I hadn't heard that about Guy Gardner before. Did a little looking into it, and while it would have made more sense for Guy to fail to save Xanshi, it looks like the plan was to use John all along:<br /><br />http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/09/24/comic-book-legends-revealed-279/<br /><br />The funny thing is that Starlin and Mignola seem to have had no awareness whatsoever that it would be a pivotal point in John's history. It's a bit like Jean Grey destroying that one civilized world because John Byrne thought it would look cool, but then editorial stepping in and saying, "uh, you do realize there need to be in-comic repercussions for that, right?"<br /><br />This is why we can't have nice things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-79635819236327561762015-01-28T16:51:26.114-04:002015-01-28T16:51:26.114-04:00And I would have tarred and feathered him if he...And I would have tarred and feathered him if he'd managed to successfully screw up Hawkman again, as his one-shot planned before Geoff Johns noticed and killed it dead.American Hawkmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-89561954477268832072015-01-28T16:50:04.855-04:002015-01-28T16:50:04.855-04:00Give Starlin credit... his original intent was for...Give Starlin credit... his original intent was for Guy Gardner to fail to save Xanshi, thus knocking his sense back into him. The rest is entirely his fault. (Well, not the New Gods bit, since DC editorial came up with that insanity to save Countdown, which, as we all know, was an abomination in the eyes of God.)American Hawkmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-5044863389153432182015-01-28T16:00:52.884-04:002015-01-28T16:00:52.884-04:00Oh, I didn't mean to forgive because of Starli...Oh, I didn't mean to forgive because of Starlin, so much as to exonerate Mishkin and Cohn.<br /><br />In and of itself, I don't think it was a bad idea to set up a new status quo for OMAC; it still kept the original mission (peace) without having to be a Kirby retread. But overall I'm not thrilled with Starlin's DC work either; he strikes me as one of those writers who has many good big ideas but also desperately needs an editor to keep him in line. Left to his own devices, he breaks things.<br /><br />Bones about which I have to pick with Starlin:<br /><br />1) Having John Stewart fail to save Xanshi. That was Starlin's doing. Twenty-five years later and it's still John's defining action.<br /><br />2) Pushing the notion that it was John Stewart's arrogance that led to the destruction of Xanshi, and not the fact that he arrived with very little time to spare and the bomb had defenses tailored to John's weakness. (You can't tell me the bomb wouldn't have also had fire / telepathic defenses against J'onn.)<br /><br />3) Cloning Mongul from Thanos over at Marvel (who was in turn a clone of Darkseid).<br /><br />4) Recasting Prince Gavyn / Starman into a Mar-vell clone.<br /><br />5) Didn't Starlin kill off the New Gods the other year, when Grant Morrison needed them alive for his stories? Jesus, dude.<br /><br />Wow, someone else who remembers "This Barren Earth". I can't say I liked the story at the beginning -- it seemed to be a retread of things we'd seen before ("it's called an energy blade, scum" ... good God, rip off "Star Wars" much?) -- but what it built into, with the humans and lizards learning to cooperate for survival and prosperity, was very much worth reading.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-79772854122693389812015-01-28T09:47:51.524-04:002015-01-28T09:47:51.524-04:00Oh I think we've all mocked a little Captain V...Oh I think we've all mocked a little Captain Victory on the slide, Snell ;-).<br /><br />Anon: I remember buying Warlord FOR Barren Earth. That said, if Jim Starlin was involved, then I forgive nothing. Not a fan of his DC work, which always seemed to me to be about aggressively going against what the characters he as using were about.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-43547400827208930752015-01-28T09:37:11.171-04:002015-01-28T09:37:11.171-04:00Hah, I had this comic, actually I had the whole &q...Hah, I had this comic, actually I had the whole "Warlord" run for which there were a variety of backups (OMAC, Arion, Barren Earth, Claw the Unconquered).<br /><br />It was Jim Starlin who started the OMAC run, with this new status quo: the entire GPA had been murdered, and OMAC decided the only remaining route to world peace would be to side with the most powerful corporation and defeat the competition as efficiently as possible. So it was Starlin who gave us the deaths of the GPA, Wiley Quixote (yes that's on Starlin), and a healthy dose of psychohistory from "Foundation".<br /><br />A key page:<br /><br />http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-50dbJaT1sYo/UJ8BYyzT_0I/AAAAAAAAe7c/89qfxFmjxKA/s1600/Warlord-038-20.jpg<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-7614658030096451032015-01-28T09:35:02.133-04:002015-01-28T09:35:02.133-04:00In fairness, Wiley Quixote is the type of name Jac...In fairness, Wiley Quixote is the type of name Jack Kirby would have come up with but no one would make fun of because he's Kirby and you're not allowed to mock the genius.snellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06181997862745538999noreply@blogger.com