tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post3869956602459156390..comments2023-11-05T07:44:07.654-05:00Comments on GeniusboyFiremelon: When Words Collide: We Have Met the Enemy and He is UsTimothy Callahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04078183191900311833noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-48479761534538787782009-05-25T01:31:44.275-04:002009-05-25T01:31:44.275-04:00On Wonder Woman, I really wish people would just g...On Wonder Woman, I really wish people would just get over the embarrassment about the Moulton-Peters version. <br /><br />Characters are like three-legged stools. They have professional (or academic) motivators. They have family (or domestic) motivators. They have social (including sexual) motivators. Great characters interweave these three aspects into a coherent person.<br /><br />By that standard, the Moulton-Peters Wonder Woman was a great character. Sure, she was bisexual, polyamorous and enjoyed light bondage. However, those weren't the <I>only</I> things about her. She wanted to carry a message to the Man's world while seeing it for herself. She was driven to this because she seemed to find Paradise Island ... constrictive. <br /><br />In other words, Princess Diana was seeking breadth in her life experiences across all three areas. It is simple motivating engine that makes sense. <br /><br />However, when you cut one leg out, the stool falls over. It becomes like Spider-Man without guilt, or Batman without revenge. It is just another person in funny clothes.Dean H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17923782800713104454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-37718589305314006232009-05-25T01:17:11.236-04:002009-05-25T01:17:11.236-04:00Fun article. I enjoyed the Mr. Mxyzptlk bit and t...Fun article. I enjoyed the Mr. Mxyzptlk bit and the Brainiac section. I am not sure that the analogy held up the whole way through, but I enjoyed it.<br /><br />To me, Superman is about heart. The best Superman stories force him to chose between two things he feels strongly. For example, "Superman II" forces a choice between his love for Lois and his Kryptonian heritage. Then, it forces him to chose <B>again</B> between Lois and his duty to protect the Earth.<br /><br />His antagonists are shadows of that. Luthor wants to receive recognition (and/or affection) without giving any in return. Brainiac wants to literally posses people. Zod is maudlin nostalgia for "the good old days" twisted into something dark. Bizzaro is your most embarrassing social rejection made flesh. Parasite is the clingy person that won't take "no" for an answer.Dean H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17923782800713104454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-4604591425157219602009-05-21T21:02:35.507-04:002009-05-21T21:02:35.507-04:00"It's hard to tell whether your analysis of the Su..."It's hard to tell whether your analysis of the Superman foes was in earnest or just a bit of intellectual fun."<br /><br />To me, these two are the same thing.Timothy Callahanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078183191900311833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-57317232952786319962009-05-21T16:02:37.299-04:002009-05-21T16:02:37.299-04:00Interesting and funny. Though I would go further a...Interesting and funny. Though I would go further and say that Superman is the perfect human and he fights our human failings/evils much like a God. <br /><br />Mr. Mxyzptlk is our tricky deceitful side. Bizarro is our misguided/naive/stupid side. Doomsday is our rage. Parasite is our greed. Zod is our inner conqueror. Brainiac is our pompous intelligence used improperly.<br /><br />Luthor embodies every on of those things. He represents everything wrong with humanity.Davehttp://www.davetomko.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-47463473420651551672009-05-21T13:54:38.537-04:002009-05-21T13:54:38.537-04:00I'm sorry to say I was a little disappointed by th...I'm sorry to say I was a little disappointed by this article, mostly because it started so strongly but didn't follow through for me.<br /><br />I'd never really thought about Spider-Man and his villains, but I think you nailed the essence of what made them work and why they're flailing now. Ditto for Wonder Woman. I think her major problem is that she started off as a genuine (but warped, with Marsden's bizarre bondage fetish) war of the sexes icon, with foes like Ares who personified masculine brutality. Gender equality is much more complicated now, and the old Ares villain, much like Wonder Woman's costume, looks like a laughable throwback. <br /><br />As for Batman, your summation of the villains as repressed aspects of himself wasn't the first I've read, but it was the most lucid and succinct.<br /><br />I'm not invested in Superman at all, or his villains, so I say the following not as an enraged fan, but a disappointed reader. It's hard to tell whether your analysis of the Superman foes was in earnest or just a bit of intellectual fun. Regardless, I found it funny but implausible, and that's what bothered me as your discussion of the other hero / villain dynamics proves you're capable of more. Because Superman's villains may not be as famous as Batman's, but there is the sense that unlike Wonder Woman's they do work pretty well as a rogue's gallery. And personally I've never been sure why that is. <br /><br />I mean, yes, I get that every Superman villain is on some level a solution to an intellectual challenge: how to threaten the god-like man. Luthor outthinks him, Parasite turns his strength against him, Mxyplyck (or however you spell it) is so powerful that Superman's powers become irrelevant and he has to survive by wits alone. And I understand the gosh-shucks moral purity of the Kent upbringing vs. the worldly corruption of Luthor. But both the mechanical solutions to hurting an invulnerable man and the cornfed Midwestern values vs. corruption thing are pretty dull bases for dramatic conflict, and for the most part Superman's classic enemies aren't dull.<br /><br />So I was hoping for the same clarity and insight you demonstrated in the lead up to the main event with Spider-man, Batman, etc. I still feel like the question you raised about Superman's villains hasn't been answered. Here's hoping you return to it someday, because frankly you got me interested in the topic for the first time ever.Doc Malleusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-51459583877450463122009-05-21T12:45:59.465-04:002009-05-21T12:45:59.465-04:00Oh yeah, Morrison books to avoid! I will get to wo...Oh yeah, Morrison books to avoid! I will get to work on that for next week! Good call--I forgot about that one.Timothy Callahanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078183191900311833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-48940395217611234982009-05-21T10:15:31.600-04:002009-05-21T10:15:31.600-04:00I thouroghly enjoyed this.
How crazy are you?
No...I thouroghly enjoyed this.<br /><br />How crazy are you?<br /><br />Not at all, but I think you suffer from apophenia. Kidding!<br /><br />So, when are you going to write that "Morrison Books to Avoid" WWC cloumn you promised me?<br /><br />Oh, and I'm glad you're back, Tim!Bruce Castlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17846693035012897076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-86494625475260370932009-05-21T09:16:46.543-04:002009-05-21T09:16:46.543-04:00Sorry, just read the column at CBR and then came o...Sorry, just read the column at CBR and then came over here to comment. Should probably serve as a lesson, that. But knowing myself, it probably won't.Shameful Shabazznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-30911318849522195282009-05-21T07:58:17.966-04:002009-05-21T07:58:17.966-04:00Superboy Prime is mentioned in this very blog post...Superboy Prime is mentioned in this very blog post!!!!Timothy Callahanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078183191900311833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-85929087605938934142009-05-21T07:13:41.156-04:002009-05-21T07:13:41.156-04:00Good column, but you left out Superguy Prime. The ...Good column, but you left out Superguy Prime. The nostalgic comic fan turned pro, ever determined to put things back - i.e. Geoff Johns/Alex Ross.Shecky Shabazznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-44874286680940669202009-05-21T01:52:07.820-04:002009-05-21T01:52:07.820-04:00What does it say, then, that my favourite version ...What does it say, then, that my favourite version of Superman is a pacifist? Simple: Joe Casey and I are fine with ourselves -- and Superman.Chad Nevetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11785622045733202883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22842788.post-59900124636524703742009-05-20T22:00:16.883-04:002009-05-20T22:00:16.883-04:00Your description of Lex Luthor sounds an awful lot...Your description of Lex Luthor sounds an awful lot like this Tim Callahan guy I read about on the interweb.Bill Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14811238618910477219noreply@blogger.com