Cosmic Comics Curfuffle (yeah, it's not spelled right, but better that than the other way around)

[thehefner]

Henchgirl and I are working on a side project involving Kyle Rayner, which will result in that character's equivalent of the Hal Jordan head injury project. Unfortunately, this means tracking down as many Kyle issues of Green Lantern we can find. Every dollar I spend makes fifteen-year-old John Hefner scream in agony.

I honestly keep trying to actually read these issues, but I can't get three pages into any story without wanting to find some way to graft a throat onto the comics so that I may strangle them. Yeah, that was awkwardly phrased, but Kyle GL comics from this era infuriate me beyond all sense of actual wit. Even when good stuff actually happens, I'm too blinded by my deep-seated nostalgic rage. Can one have nostalgic rage? Because I think that's what this is.

In other cosmic comic news, I finally read The Life and Death of Captain Marvel, which felt like the equivalent of suffering through three seasons of an incredibly tedious show, only to find that the series finale is one of the greatest things you've ever seen on TV.

I love Starlin's later work with Thanos, but good lord was I ever bored by the original Thanos storyline. Maybe that just served to make the already-great Death of Captain Marvel all the more powerful. I was doing that thing where you make little "oh" sounds out loud every few pages, which got rather embarrassing with Henchgirl in the room.

Amazing to think that this kind of story is still incredibly rare in comics today. Actually, do we ever see superheroes dying slow deaths, deteriorating and coming to terms with their mortality while they make peace with those around them? The only other instance I can recall is Silver Surfer: Requiem, and say what you want about JMS, but that story was stunningly moving for much the same reasons.

I'm tempted to say that The Death of Captain Marvel might well be the greatest treatment of death in all of superhero comics. Any disagreements on this count, f-list?

Comments

[skalja.livejournal.com]

I thought the recent 1 Month 2 Live (or however it was spelled) was really, really good, but not as good as Silver Surfer: Requiem. Haven't read Death of Captain Marvel yet and probably won't for some time to come.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Good call!

[skalja.livejournal.com]

... On 1 Month 2 Live or not reading Death of Captain Marvel? (I'm sure it's good, I'm just really not in the mood to handle death stories right now.)

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

1 Month 2 Live, I mean. Oh dear, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of what you were going through. Is everything okay?

[skalja.livejournal.com]

Everything's fine! Sorry to scare you like that. I've just been kinda down lately is all.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

That's better than I thought, but still not great. Hugs either way.

I was just afraid that I'd been all "HEY EVERYONE READ THIS AWESOME TAKE ON SLOW REALISTIC DEATH" to someone who has someone close to them dying IRL.

[skalja.livejournal.com]

Sorry to scare you! It only occurred to me after you replied that I could've given that impression...

[torberg.livejournal.com]

...but better that than the other way around

Yeah, you don't need a trademark infringement suit from the Krusty Komedy Klassic.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

But you haven't even heard about my upcoming bit about the newest critically-praised arthouse indie flick, SHOE Valentine!

[kagome654.livejournal.com]

Aw, poor Hef and his nostalgic rage. I own about 95% of Kyle's run and most of his guest appearances from that era, so let me know if I can help in any way (not sure how, but...).

I actually preferred Silver Surfer: Requiem to The Death Of Captain Marvel, but I suspect that's because I have more attachment to Norrin.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

We're trying to find every single time that Kyle has had a crick in his neck. You know, the pose where Kyle is reaching back and holding his neck in a "gosh darn gee whiz I'm just a normal guy in over my head" pose? We've found about sixteen examples thus far, and I don't even own that many Kyle issues. I'm doing what I can to pick up more, but if there are any that I'm having a hard time finding, perhaps I could ask you to skim through a couple to see if he's doing the pose there?

Similarly, take a drink every time Kyle says that he's "trying." You'll be wasted by the third story arc.

I prefer Norrin too, because dear lord did I ever find Mar-Vell boring as hell up until that book. But nonetheless, I think I slightly prefer his story over Norrin's. They're both the gold standard, and funny how it works out that they're also two supremely-powerful cosmic heroes.

[kagome654.livejournal.com]

Ah, I think I know what you mean...sort of like this? Probably not the best example, but it's early in the morning and that's from the first Kyle centric comic that I randomly grabbed.

I'd be glad to skim through any issues you aren't able to find. I was looking for an excuse to reread them anyway.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA, yes, that's exactly it. It's perfect. And it's from the first issue you randomly grabbed?

Yeah, he does it all the time. All. The time. It doesn't count if he's been hit in the head, but every other time, that's what we're trying (that word!) to collect.

Welp, if you're up to helping, then please do! We've found a bunch, and I can later send you a list of the ones we've found so far, or you can just go ahead and let me know what you find in your rereading of the series.

Part of me would like to have the whole Kyle run, but even besides the angry-making factor, they're so crazy expensive in back issues, and they're not reprinted! I mean, hey, I'm not sad that they're out of print, but I thought this series was crazy popular! And it's not just Geoff Johns' fault, as they weren't reprinting it even during Kyle's heyday!

BTW, remind me, from what aborted DC project did your Hal icon originate?

[kagome654.livejournal.com]

Yeah, first issue I randomly picked. Poor Kyle, he's such a dork.

I'll just let you know what I've found in my rereading, less work for you and if I flake out I won't feel as bad. Maybe I'll make an album of it on photobucket or something.

Part of me would like to have the whole Kyle run, but even besides the angry-making factor, they're so crazy expensive in back issues, and they're not reprinted

I ran into the same 'can't find back issues and there are no trades!' problem and eventually took another, less honest, route. I'll buy the issues/trades when they're available and/or it's feasible to do so, but they certainly don't make it easy.

BTW, remind me, from what aborted DC project did your Hal icon originate?

I wish I could remember. It was another 'JLA in grade school' thing, with (mostly) the Bat villains as bullies. I can recall a lot of the promo art (like a cutesy Wonder Woman winning a race against the other heroes with her invisible soapbox racer), but not the name of project.

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

Wait, wait, Hal's been hit that many times in the head and Guy was the one with brain damage?
man, Fuck hal.

[night-train-fm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but Guy was punched in the face by Batman. That's worth more than a lifetime of head injuries inflicted by lesser mortals.

[bitemetechie.livejournal.com]

I dunno, Hal did angrily fly head-first into a billboard at a stated-in-canon 200 MPH...of his own free will. If he wasn't brain damaged BEFORE that...

[night-train-fm.livejournal.com]

We're kind of lucky he hasn't turned into a half-dead wreck in a machine suit like post-BND Doctor Octopus.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Well, one needs to have a brain to damage in the first place. Zing! Poor stupid Hal.

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

I like how at least part of your hal jordan fandom seems to be based upon pity for what a moron he is.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Not just pity, but genuine affection. Not too many superheroes are like Captain Kirk: brave, charismatic, good-hearted, and a brilliant leader, but doesn't think things out for shit when it comes to the long term. Never forget, Kirk created the Borg and left Kahn on Seti Alpha Five. If Starfleet has a slogan, it should be "Cleaning Up Kirk's Messes For Over 100 Years."

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

I feel terrible saying this because I never knew, but how did kirk create the borg?

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Henchgirl and Captain came up with the theory after watching the end of ST: The Motion Picture (I don't know the details, as I haven't seen the film, so you'll have to ask them), only to discover that Shatner himself had the same idea and addressed it directly in one of his co-authored Trek novels. So it's not actually in canon, but it's a theory supported by canon, and Shatner's own published (crappy) books themselves.

[bitemetechie.livejournal.com]

At the end of The Motion Picture, the V'ger probe that's been menacing the ST universe and threatening to blow up Earth has taken over Commander Decker's love interest Iilia, essentially wiping her out of existence and using her body as a puppet so it can communicate with us. We get the backstory that Earth's Voyager Probe (now calling itself V'ger) came in contact with a planet of sentient machines in a far off area of the universe (which I theorize is the Delta Quadrant, where the Borg originated from), which altered it and made it sentient as well. It goes on its merry way to Earth to find its creator so that it can join with him/her, an unstoppable killing machine that lacks one vital component that makes it vulnerable:

Since it's a machine, it lacks human ingenuity and creativity.

So, what does Kirk do?

"Gee, unstoppable sentient machine whose only vulnerable spot is its lack of human ingenuity...I know! I'll let Commander Decker join with it--because he's human and humans created the probe--to stave off the current attack on Earth! And then the UNSTOPPABLE SENTIENT MACHINE will gain HUMAN INGENUITY and then go BACK TO THE FAR AWAY PLANET FULL OF OTHER SENTIENT MACHINES. NOTHING CAN EVER GO WRONG WITH THIS PLAN."

Way to go, Jim. Logical Sentient Machine+Creative Sentient Man+Planet of Sentient Machines to Teach the New "Join with humanoids! They've got ingeuinty!" Gospel to=Borg.

And Borg=Rapidly growing unstoppable army assimilating the entire populations of countless planets across the universe.

Granted, this is all speculation on my part, but it was later confirmed by one of the Shatner 'written' ST novels and while said novel SUCKED, it's sort-of continuity in the way that the Star Wars books are.

I love Kirk, but sometimes he's a really great reminder that thinking about long term consequences might be a good idea once in a while.

[night-train-fm.livejournal.com]

All those head injuries may explain why Hal has to remind himself of who he is and what he does at the start of every other issue.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Sigh, I wish, but that wouldn't explain why Wally and Barry do the same thing in every issue Geoff Johns writes.

[jackolantern.livejournal.com]

The Death of Captain Marvel was indeed great; my favorite scene was the one with the Skrull ambassador.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

There were many moments that hit me, but that was one of the greatest. Jeez, man. Talk about a moving scene with complex implications.