#jla critical

[wanderingmind867]

I do think the Justice League loses their sense of humanity after J'onn J'onzz and Snapper Carr are written out of the JLA comics. Not to sound like Green Arrow when he's being preachy, but the Justice League Watchtower is creepy. Sure, I liked it when I saw it on TV as a kid. But now I legitimately think the Hannah-Barbera Superfriends show had it more put together, with their Hall of Justice. The Avengers have it more put together, with Avengers Mansion in NYC. The Watchtower is creepy.

And let me explain why. In essence: it's because they're floating above us. Usually, being above someone makes it look like you're condescending to them. And it reads that way to me too. The JLA sits up in their floating tower, doing god knows what, and we're supposed to just sit there and accept that!? No! Get out of space, come back to earth, and learn to work with the people you're protecting! I think the JLA was better with Snapper Carr and J'onn J'onzz, because that era had them using a hidden mountain hideout in the US. And sure, it was hidden. But it was still on earth! They were still closer to real people!

Honestly though, I think the Justice League can only be as good as The Avengers if they accept the public attention. The Superfriends did it right. The JLA should just use the Hall of Justice. It's like the watchtower, but it's on the ground. It's better. Less condescending and creepy.

[ravenpureforever]

On one hand, Young Justice is kind of neglected by the actual superheroes that should be looking out for them in a lot of crucial ways and very much failed by the adults around them

But on the other hand Red Tornado straight up hosts a parent-teacher conference where their respective legal guardians all show up, barring Batman who’s in traffic so Nightwing fills in instead because Robin’s dad does not know he’s a vigilante which is objectively hilarious

[bruciemilf]

The justice league taking pictures with Bruce like men do with fish

[televisionlassie]

I actually can’t handle Batman Stans like “Batman slams” no he doesn’t. I’m genuinely tweaking over this send help

[batfsm]

Nope, nope, NOPE!

Bruce is just as strong if not stronger. Bruce has lived with his trauma and keeps going evn longer than Barbara.

Not to mention she is a creep. She literally had cameras throughout Dick's apartment, is put with his little brothers, which if we say her and Bruce is a big no, so is this, gets fucking jealous of Dick having a life outside of her but when he gets jealous of her 'friends' he's told off? She also should be getting in trouble for some of the things she does/did as Oracle that Batman gets in trouble for but she seems to not be. (I think I saw he gets told off for going into personal files and information but she isn't. I can't remember where.)

Yeah, no. Screenrant, you are so far up Babs ass it isn't funny. This is fucking stupid.

That Babs is able to use the ring without issue is actually a huge detail, especially in comparison to Batman. When Batman once tried to use a Green Lantern ring, he was unable to do so. Hal Jordan explained to him that, in order to use the ring, one must also embrace their trauma: "You can't forget it, but you can [...] live with it." But Batman is not ready to just "live" with his trauma and rejects the use of the ring. Barbara, on the other hand, experienced an extremely traumatic event when she was shot through the spine by the Joker. But here she is able to use a Green Lantern ring without any issue — for multiple years

So because Bruce can't get over it but Barbara can, she gets a ring? What about Dick? He's been through a lot and does he get one? Does anyone else get one?

What the fuck? This is how she got her mobility back? For real?

Babs is fully capable of accepting her trauma and learning to live with it. This isn't particularly surprising, considering her role as the hero Oracle: someone who helps and saves people on a level Babs never could as Batgirl. Batman's trauma is what turned him into a hero, but it's also what's been preventing him from living his life as he truly should. But Batgirl uses her trauma to become a better hero — in one case, even as a Green Lantern — which shows that Barbara Gordon might just be a stronger hero than Batman.

Jesus Christ, they really hate Bruce don't they?

Bruce is literally using his trauma to change the fucking world but no, he can't get over it so he's not strong enough.

Christ above did DC forget that Bruce becomes Batman and stays Batman so other children doesn't have to go through what he did? That just because he can't 'live' with his trauma doesn't mean he isn't strong. He's one of the strongest heroes BECAUSE he keeps going. BECAUSE HE FUCKING CARES!

Christ, I love Babs but this hero worship of her by DC is making me want to throw up.

[mzminola]

Just about every Batkid-centered story will make me want to hit Bruce in the face with a shovel at some point (usually more than once) but what just got revealed in the latest Outlaws webtoon is just so... unspeakably cruel to Bizarro that I really don’t think there’s any coming back from it.

Fuck, at least J’onn expresses some fucking sympathy.

[queenretcon]

Interesting to me that most of the criticism I’ve seen of welcome to smallville is also criticism you can make of JLI that largely isn’t made because people put it on a pedestal and don’t actually engage with it

[eiralunaire]

Damian, after returning from a solo mission to Titan Tower, learns that his partner Reader was sent on a mission to Spain without informing him.

Damian Wayne returned to Titan Tower after a solitary mission, his mind occupied with the reports he had to deliver and the strategies he was already planning for future operations. Although he had managed to eliminate those responsible for a trafficking ring in Gotham, he felt that something was not right. There had been a bad feeling in the air since he left the city.

As he landed on the roof of Titan Tower, the engines of the customized jet shut down with a high-pitched whistle. The sound of the night was dense, an uncomfortable silence. As soon as he got off the jet, Damian activated the communicator he wore on his wrist, looking for information from his team and, above all, from Reader. Normally, she was the one who made sure to greet him as soon as he arrived, sometimes with a smile or some witty quip, but on this occasion there was no sign of her.

The lights of the tower shone through the large windows that surrounded the main room. There was no sign of the other Titans. Everything was quiet. Too quiet.

As he entered, he was greeted by the Tower’s AI.

“Welcome, Damian Wayne,” he said in his usual monotone.

Damian moved with purposeful steps, his eyes searching the monitors for any hint of activity. He began typing, looking for recent mission and assignment reports. One of the files on the screen caught his attention: **Reader – International Mission – Spain**.

His jaw tightened as he saw the location. **Spain. Why didn’t he know about this?** He typed faster, accessing the mission details.

**Subject: Support in covert operations**

**Location: Barcelona, ​​Spain**

**Operation in progress: Investigation and neutralization of developing metahuman threat.**

The feeling in his stomach intensified. Damian frowned as he read more details. The team had been sent without his knowledge, and it bothered him deeply. He always made sure Reader was safe. Her going on an international mission while he wasn't present wasn't something he liked, nor would he allow if he'd known about it.

He activated the Titans' communicator, looking to contact whoever was available, but there was no immediate response. Finally, a familiar voice appeared.

"Damian, is everything okay?" It was Nightwing, who seemed to be in the middle of another mission.

"Why was Reader sent to Spain?" Damian asked, his tone direct and cutting.

"I figured... you already heard." Nightwing paused, perhaps considering how to approach the situation. "It was a last-minute decision. The team in Europe needed urgent support and she volunteered. You know she's one of the best at covert operations."

"That's no excuse for not informing me," Damian snapped, his patience already at its limit. "I should have known."

Nightwing sighed on the other end of the line.

“I understand your frustration, but you were on a critical mission and a quick response was needed. There was no time to discuss it with you.”

Damian clenched his fists. He couldn’t help but feel like information had been deliberately withheld from him. Reader was skilled, he knew that better than anyone, but that didn’t lessen his concern for her. The idea that she was on the other side of the ocean, facing who knows what kind of threat, unsettled him more than he was willing to admit.

“Do you know what the current situation is?” he asked, his fingers moving quickly over the keyboards, tracking down any updates on the mission.

“The latest report indicates that they’re close to neutralizing the threat, but they’ve had complications. Some of the local forces weren’t prepared to deal with a metahuman of that magnitude.”

“How many are with her?” Damian insisted, trying to remain calm.

“The European team is supporting her, as well as some JLA agents.” Reader is leading the operation in the field, but communications have been intermittent due to the technological interference the target has been causing.

Damian cursed under his breath. He couldn’t stand the thought of being so far away and not being able to make sure everything was under control. **Reader is capable. Reader is strong.** But that didn’t mitigate the fear.

“I’m going to Spain,” he said, determined.

“Damian, listen…” Nightwing tried to intervene. “If you go now, you could put the mission at risk. Trust that she knows what she’s doing.”

“I’m not asking for your approval,” he replied coldly. “Just informing you.”

He ended the communication before Nightwing could respond. He was upset, but more than that, he was uneasy. He and Reader didn’t just share a personal relationship; there was a deeper connection between them, something he couldn’t ignore. He wouldn’t leave her alone in hostile territory, not while he had the means to reach her.

Quickly, he headed to the Tower's hangar. His jet was already ready for another mission, so he wasted no time getting on. Although he knew it could take a few hours to get there, he wouldn't let that time lapse weaken him. He felt responsible for her safety, and it wasn't just because of his role as a leader. Reader had accomplished what few people in his life could: break the barriers he had erected since he was a child.

As the jet took off, Damian connected to the international communication channels, trying to get any signal from Spain. However, as Nightwing had mentioned, the interference made it impossible. There was nothing but silence.

Damian's thoughts flew back to the first time he met her, how, from the beginning, something about her had attracted him. Her intelligence, her ability to stand firm in any situation, her constant willingness to help others. She was a person who knew how to handle herself in risky situations, and she often faced them without hesitation. And yet, something about this mission made him uneasy.

Time seemed to drag as he crossed the Atlantic. The constant roar of the jet's engines was the only sound that accompanied him. Damian checked and re-checked every detail of the mission he had been able to obtain. Barcelona was a complicated city for this type of operation. Its dense infrastructure and narrow streets could become a dangerous battlefield, especially if they were dealing with an unpredictable metahuman.

Finally, the jet began to descend on the outskirts of the city. Night was falling over Barcelona, ​​the city lights flickering in the distance like a million little fires. Damian adjusted his equipment, preparing for landing. Time was of the essence. He had no further details of the mission, but he didn't need them. His only priority was to find Reader and make sure he was safe.

As soon as he set foot on the ground, he activated the tracker he had installed on his equipment before leaving. It was a discreet device used by the Titans to keep track of each other during missions. However, when he tried to locate Reader, the device showed nothing.

**Interference. Damn.**

Damian moved nimbly through the streets, staying in the shadows as he went. He used his contacts in the city to obtain more information. According to local reports, the riots had reached a fever pitch in the Raval neighborhood. A confrontation between a covert operations group and a being with metahuman abilities had caused chaos.

With that information in mind, he quickly headed towards the location. The streets were empty, the lights flickered, and the air was charged with a strange electricity. Damian felt that every second was vital. Finally, he reached the cordoned off area. From a tall building, he observed what was happening next.

The confrontation was taking place right in one of the main squares. In the distance, he could make out the operational team fighting to keep at bay a metahuman who seemed to control electrical energy on a large scale. Lightning crackled everywhere, lighting up the night with blue flashes.

And there, in the middle of the chaos, was Reader.

She moved with the grace of someone who had trained hard for this kind of situation. Her focus was absolute, but Damian could see the exhaustion on her face. She was using her skills, but the enemy was formidable, more so than anyone had anticipated.

Without wasting any time, Damian leapt onto the battlefield. Within seconds, he was already at Reader’s side, blocking one of the attacks headed her way.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked, surprised but relieved to see him.

“I wasn’t going to leave you alone in this,” he replied, his eyes fixed on the enemy as he prepared his next move. “We’re going to finish this together.”

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

I'm back after being away for a week, ah. now I need ideas to make more scenarios.

[autisticrosewilson]

Yes!! This exactly!

There is no misunderstanding at the core of Jason and Bruce's conflict. Sure, their inability to communicate and various complexes play a part, but that's not the main issue.

Jason was murdered, and the man who killed him is still filling graves. Jason was a sidekick, murdered in the suit by one of his villains, and not only was there another Robin when he came back - a second Robin had already died.

There are maybe nuances here, but there is no misunderstanding. Jason was very clear, that Batman doesn't work because big criminals no longer fear him. That just handing them over to a justice system GLOBALLY AND UNDENIABLY KNOWN AS CORRUPT AND OPPRESSIVE isn't fucking effective. How could Jason trust Bruce to avenge Gotham if he wouldn't even avenge his son? This is the core conflict.

No amount of clarification or talking it out or truth serum or whatever would fix that. Bruce wanted to kill the Joker? Too bad, doesn't change that he's still alive. Dick did kill the Joker? And then he felt guilty for it, and Bruce brought the monster back. Joker has diplomatic immunity! You guys are already illegal vigilantes and Batman is the head of the fucking justice league - widely known as Earth's main protectors - you have actual gods on speed dial, Bruce's fuckin ex father in law/mentor almost certainly has assassins staged in every government position on earth, and it's hardly the first time someone thought Batman was killing people, so actually that's such a laughable excuse Jason deserves to strangle Bruce to death for even thinking of it.

I liked Juni Ba's writing of Jason until Damian showed up,and it's not even that I don't like their dynamic, it's only when they started talking about Bruce that they lost me.

In the simplest possible terms, Jason can't go back to the bats because he kills. He is going to keep killing because he doesn't believe in Bruce's methods. To stop killing is him prioritizing his family over his desire to help people. If you write a version of Jason where he doesn't believe that what he's doing is necessary and justified, you are writing him out of character. You have changed the main point of his character and fundamentally misunderstood the conflict to begin with.

"He lectured me for a few hours" He beat Jason until he was unconscious while Jason wasn't even fighting back Without even checking for Penguins pulse and then told him that sometimes Jason needs the sense knocked into him.

Do you see why that doesn't fucking work now? Do you see why the "Bruce still loves Jason, he can go home any time!" Falls apart? I don't doubt that in his own way, Bruce does love Jason. At least, a version of him. Sometimes love isn't enough, because no matter how much Bruce loves Jason he'll never prioritize him over his code, so it ceases to matter.

[brucewaynehater101]

Tim who had the watchtower/super hero substitute treehouse built so Batman can have relatively healthy socialization also eggs on the baking rivalry that develops between Alfred and Ma Kent as part of his multi step plan to direct Batman towards developing a wider social circle than Superman who, again, Tim does not fully approve of as a good influence on Batman. He appreciates that Batman shouldn't kill and that Superman helped that much but otherwise is unimpressed with the kryptonian. Basically the only things Superman could do to make it up to Tim would be first, sincerely apologizing to Kon accompanied by actively being better and second lobotomizing the Joker. Unfortunately Superman has yet to realize he needs to make up anything to Tim. Thus Ma Kent will continue to receive cook books and high end baking supplies from anonymous sources as well as strategic praise and comparisons to Alfred's baking from various heroes and Alfred will receive similar praise and criticism and Bruce and Clark will both receive uncomfortable questions from both sides about which pie or cake or cookie he liked better.

Tim having monthly tea parties with Queen Hippolyta in a neutral location to talk about how Diana is doing, again as part of the plan for Bruce to have good social influences in his life. Cassie helped him arrange it. Queen Hippolyta mothers Tim a bit because she's experiencing a little empty nest syndrome and while Tim is a boy, he's very polite and didn't invade her home and brings treats he either bought or made himself (he's not dragging Hippolyta into the baking beef). Tim reacts better to this than he would if someone attempted to act fatherly to him as she does so in small doses and in a manner that is slightly softer than Janet and is thus nostalgic.

Tim will find the parental figures in the JLA's lives and he will make connections. He is trying very hard not to be Bruce's entire (functioning) support system.

Ma Kent and Alfred should have a very fierce rivalry over food. The competition should be intense, yet they still care about one another. They'll switch in seconds from casually chatting about their sons and gardening to very pointed insults about the other's cooking.

Tim dragging Bruce's friends' parents into that man's support circle is hilarious and amazing. He will ensure that Batman will be up against crowds of friends and their parents the next time he decides to go on another crime-fighting bender.

Also, it could be healthy overall for in-the-know parents of heroes to have their own support group. They can get advice and comfort from others. Yes, some of the parents aren't exactly "civilians," but the group is geared towards parents of first generation "heroes," (though other generations of parents of heroes are welcome as well). There are a lot of nuances, laws, and issues pertaining to being a public hero.

Tim should have beef with Superman. Let that teen continually give the man glares of disappointment and disproval at the hero's back (which Clark feels but can't pinpoint the origin), and then his face smooths back to neutral whenever the man looks at him. Tim is a professional, after all. I think Jason and Tim could bond over this when they start getting along.

[bitimdrake]

pssssst hey quick question on the dl - who is helena bartinelli??

i cannot answer anon questions on the dl, so answer on the up-high, which she deserves:

HUNTRESS

a.k.a. Helena Bertinelli, a.k.a. Gotham's coolest and most notable antihero, crossbow-wielder, and purple bat-associated vigilante.

Helena was born to an Italian mob family, but spent her childhood blissfully unaware of the family business--until her entire family was slaughtered in front of her when she was eight. She stayed with family overseas for the rest of her childhood, learning how to fight and protect herself.

She came back to Gotham for both vengeance and justice, and became one of Gotham's many vigilantes. Though her focus is on the mob, she'll step in to stop any crime.

She's also a schoolteacher! Good for her.

She is discerning in who she chooses to kill, but she does kill. As you can imagine, this put her at odds with Batman for a long time. Helena is pretty much the premiere example of Bruce trying to claim control over every vigilante in Gotham, no matter how little right he has. The argument on killing/ethics is valid, but his default was basically "do exactly what I say and fall in line under my command, or stop completely," which is why he's an asshole control freak and why I'm constantly mad about how she was treated 👍

She was an absolute mainstay of the Batfamily before Flashpoint (2011) and it is personally hurtful to me that people don't know her. (Like, to be frank? She had far more of a presence than Damian or (living) Jason in the post-crisis era.)

You could count on seeing her in any major Batfamily crossover, from Cataclysm to Battle for the Cowl.

She was central to the biggest Batfamily crossover ever, No Man's Land, where Gotham was locked off from the rest of the country and turned into a lawless wasteland. Bruce left to sulk for the first couple of months and in absence of any other vigilantes in the field (only Oracle having remained in the city), Helena donned the mantle of the Bat for herself to protect the city. And when Batman came back, in return for all she'd done, she got...yelled at, assigned impossible tasks and criticized for not achieving them, her costume stolen and given to someone else, lied to, abandoned in the face of impossible odds, and shot multiple times protecting kids. Absolute fucking hero, honestly.

She also was on the Justice League for a while, though admittedly I have barely touched that run. To my understanding, despite nominating her for the position, Bruce was also the one to revoke her membership there.

Fortunately! things improved!!

In the early/mid 2000s, Helena joined the Birds of Prey, Oracle's team, and found legit friendships and support there with teammates like Dinah Lance/Black Canary. She finally got more respect in the community, and had a much better time.

Additional relationships include:

A big sister/annoying little brother type thing with Tim, who may disapprove of her killing but simply likes making friends too much :)

A great relationship with Vic Sage/the Question

One single issue where she met Steph that presented SUCH interesting potential that I desperately wish had been followed up on

On and off romantic/sexual tension with Dick, depending on the writer, which culminated in a single hook up that apparently most people around here would rather pretend didn't happen, though I really don't think it's that bad

A complicated relationship with Barbara, partially due to clashing personalities and conflicting morals (with Babs being nearly as much of a control freak as Bruce), and partially due to a shared history with Dick because DC loves making women be catty

Surely others from her first solo or time on the JLA that I don't know well enough to list!

She's rad and determined and takes no shit but cares a lot, and I love her. We deserve more stories tying her teaching day job into her night work. We also deserve more stories with her in general.

If you would like additional Helena beyond just cruising my tag, I recommend:

Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood - far more Huntress than Batman, this is a great 6-issue miniseries about Helena reckoning with her past, ft the Question.

Batman: No Man's Land - if you have the time for it, a big storyline but worth it.

Birds of Prey vol 1 (1999) - Helena starts to appear around issue #57 and becomes a central character from there.

[wanderingmind867]

I do think the Justice League loses their sense of humanity after J'onn J'onzz and Snapper Carr are written out of the JLA comics. Not to sound like Green Arrow when he's being preachy, but the Justice League Watchtower is creepy. Sure, I liked it when I saw it on TV as a kid. But now I legitimately think the Hannah-Barbera Superfriends show had it more put together, with their Hall of Justice. The Avengers have it more put together, with Avengers Mansion in NYC. The Watchtower is creepy.

And let me explain why. In essence: it's because they're floating above us. Usually, being above someone makes it look like you're condescending to them. And it reads that way to me too. The JLA sits up in their floating tower, doing god knows what, and we're supposed to just sit there and accept that!? No! Get out of space, come back to earth, and learn to work with the people you're protecting! I think the JLA was better with Snapper Carr and J'onn J'onzz, because that era had them using a hidden mountain hideout in the US. And sure, it was hidden. But it was still on earth! They were still closer to real people!

Honestly though, I think the Justice League can only be as good as The Avengers if they accept the public attention. The Superfriends did it right. The JLA should just use the Hall of Justice. It's like the watchtower, but it's on the ground. It's better. Less condescending and creepy.

[fredricwertham]

The fight in N52 Nightwing 30 is pretty much ground 0 for cynical interpretations of Dick’s relationship with Bruce and it wouldn’t have gone over nearly as poorly as it did if happened in the preboot era. In preboot, Bruce & Dick were equals. This was established through Dick’s time as Batman during prodigal, which ends with him chastising Bruce for his emotional immaturity [picture of Bruce’s face superimposed over the Robin costume in the good soldier memorial], and re-established during Reborn, which ends with them cohabiting the cowl [picture of a Bruce & Dick standing next to each other in the same costume]. Everything that takes place between Dick & Bruce after Dick was reclaimed by Bat editorial takes place in the context of an egalitarian relationship in spite of the fact that Bruce had previously played a parent, mentor, whateveryouwanttocallit role in his life. This is true no matter how bad it gets between them. Dick had also established strong relationships with other characters in and outside of Gotham, including ones who matter outside of his solo title, meaning that Bruce wasn’t his only option. It was his choice to stick with him.

However, the underpinning rationality of N52 Gotham is that editorial wanted to put Bruce back in the role of undisputed patriarch/sole protagonist of Bat-stories. Technically, this is a trend that started during War Games (the first big Bat event after DiDio took over, and which removes both Dick and Babs from their leadership positions among the group) but was disrupted by Bruce’s death & Dick’s subsequent stint as Batman.

In any case, N52 stripped Dick of his post-crisis accomplishments in order to reinstate the Bronze Age status quo. He’s younger, we never see him achieve much of anything concrete, and most importantly he doesn’t have any of the social connections that defined his predecessor. The only person N52 Dick was close enough with to be shown mourning his death on the page is Alfred. And there is just… an enormous difference between that fight scene taking place between Batman and an almost-but-never-quite 30 year old who’s lead his own team (critically, the NTT Titans were a deliberate counterpoint to the Justice League as opposed to a JLA Jr.) and is more respected (or at least better liked) than Bruce by many of their peers, and the same scene taking place between Batman and a socially isolated 20-ish who’s only recently moved away from home, hasn’t done much of anything with his life, and seems to have trouble forming close relationships.

And then there’s this tertiary aspect where the audience can’t pretend it’s taking place in the same continuity as preboot (although King et al. reference and rely heavily upon preboot events throughout Grayson) because the whole plot depends on the people not being able to connect Dick to Bruce’s, whereas preboot trained its audience to understand that knowing Nightwing’s (or DickRobin’s) secret identity was as good as knowing that Batman was Bruce Wayne. Eg. in the first Batman/Deathstroke crossover, the comic establishes that Slade and Wintergreen are on friendly terms with Dick in order to explain why they know Bruce is Batman.

[roy-dcm2]

Solving DC's Identity Crisis (2004)

Back in 2004, DC Comics teamed up with novelist Brad Meltzer to deliver one of the most controversial comic stories ever printed. Identity Crisis has many criticisms, but one of them is despite Meltzer's pedigree as a mystery writer, they say you CANNOT solve the mystery at the center of Identity Crisis.

Who killed Sue Dibny?

I am here to present the evidence that you COULD possibly put together the twist ending before it's revealed in the final part of the story.

Let's star by looking at the crime scenes:

The Four Incidents

The first detail that should be pointed out is how startlingly different each "attack" was: Sue was burned. Jean was strangled. Jack took a boomerang in the chest, and Lois did not actually get attacked.

Despite Lois receiving a note saying "You're next," she was not the next victim, it was Jack Drake. Why wasn't Lois attacked?

Let set that aside.

Dependencies in the Modus Operandi

Speaking of notes - there were four incidents, but only two notes. Why did Lois and Jack Drake get a warning when the others did not?

Maybe, because by then people were looking for the killer. They were set to terrorize the hero community, and by sending notes, they could make a name for themselves. Make sure people know all the attacks are connected.

But, consider the contents of the notes - Lois's letter was clearly threatening, while the note Jack Drake received a gun and a note that said "Protect yourself."

What sense does that make? I thought, this person was a killer?

Remember, Lois was never attacked, and the note to Jack seems to imply they didn't want Jack Drake to die.

Consider the Victims

Let's look at the "victims" together.

Nothing happened to Lois

Jack Drake possibly died by accident.

Sue did die.

Jean survived her attack.

Two survived and two died. But, if Jack was not supposed to die, that would make it three living victims, and one dead. Why did Sue have to die?

This leads me to consider that what we have here is ONE real crime, and three follow up incidents to confuse things.

Look again at the Death of Sue Dibny

Sue was killed inside her own house. The killer managed to get inside without triggering the advanced security system. Then the body was burned.

If we consider the preliminary findings of the autopsy, we know that Sue was dead before her body was burned. So, her exact cause of death can be called "unknown."

The body was burned after Sue died, why? Maybe, to obscure the cause of death. Could Sue Dibny's death also have been an accident?

Then, why? If you accidentally kill someone, why create three more crimes to muddle things up? What is the real motive?

Who benefits?

They say if you want to solve a crime, you have to ask yourself, "Who benefits?" Who benefited from these attacks?

Nothing happened to Lois.

Jack was probably an accident, there were no benefits.

Jean survived. She and the Atom are getting back together, despite their messy divorce.

Sue was quite wealthy, and left behind a massive inheritance to her husband.

So, it could be either Ralph or Ray.

But, which of those two is capable of sneaking past of the JLA security systems?

Ray Palmer has both the means and the motive to being the attacker.

The last detail...

However, there is one flaw in that conclusion. Are we supposed to believe The Atom accidentally killed someone? Ray has been a hero for a long time, he's got complete mastery of his powers. He would never make such a critical mistake.

Then who could have done it? Someone who could get in and out like the Atom, and also stands to benefit from all the fear in the hero community.

It could be Jean Loring.

As established, she directly benefited from her attack. She could have staged it.

It is easy to predict that Ray would call her when she returned from work to check in on her. (Especially if he's been doing that every day since Sue's attack.) She could have timed it so that Ray rescue her before it was too late.

That would help bring them together, if that was her goal. Also, by making herself a victim, most people would discount her as a suspect.

How did she have access to the Atom's tech?

Everybody in the world knows, Jean and Ray had a big, public, divorce. Jean, being a lawyer, managed to keep their old house as well as half of Dr. Palmer's patents.

It is easy to believe somewhere in the couple's house there is a size changing belt that's been unaccounted for. That's how she did it.

Here's what happened...

Jean and Ray had just finished their messy divorce, however Jean has been unlucky in love recently.

So, she starts wishing things would go back to the way they were, but after a public divorce, Jean cannot simply tell Ray her feelings. That's likely when she finds a spare Atom suit, and a scheme starts to form.

If she could fake an attack on one of the JLA's loved ones, then the Hero community would come together, and she could use the hysteria to draw closer to Ray.

Sue makes the easiest target because Ralph's secret identity had been out for years.

She would use the Atom suit to sneak past the houses' security system, then Jean could knock out Sue, and start a fire. The fire would trigger the security system. Ralph or the JLA would rush over, with just enough time for Jean to disappear into the phone lines again.

But, what Jean could not count on is that size changing can be disorienting. (The Atom would not make this crucial mistake)

Jean accidentally killed Sue, and burned the body to throw off the investigation, and then had to set up the other attacks.

She set up a fake attack on herself to throw off suspicion, but it also makes reasonable sense since she and Ray's identities were publicly known just like Ralph and Sue.

<When she set up the fake crime scene, Jean wore gloves to hide her fingerprints, and likely ditched those gloves in microspace to hide the evidence.>

That might have been enough, but to try ensnare Ray back, the attacks had to continue a bit longer. So, Jean created the other two incidents.

She sent a threatening letter to Lois, never intending to follow through. Then she set up the attack on Jack Drake. Being a lawyer, she was able to set up a fake ID, and untraceable Bank Accounts, to hire Captain Boomerang and essentially pin it all on him.

The biggest tell was the last attack. If the attacker was trying to kill hero's loved ones, why did Jack Drake receive a warning note as well as a gun?

Jean's plan must have been for Jack to shoot Boomerang, the threats would stop, and the whole incident would be considered wrapped up. The heroes would be drawn closer to their loved ones in the aftermath, and she could get back together with Ray.

Jean Loring killed Sue Dibny, and then tried to cover it up. She had the means and the motive, and she almost got away with it.

(With some extra investigations, you could find who hired Boomerang, and you'd find it coincides with similar activity in Jean's Bank Account. Even if she created fake accounts, there has to be a paper trail somewhere. It'll be easier to find, once you know where to start.)

With the evidence laid out before you, I hope you now understand that the mystery of Identity Crisis can be solved. Let's call this case closed.

[popculturebuffet]

Supermay! What's So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way? (Patreon Review for Brotoman.EXE)

Hello all you happy kryptonains and welcome back to supermay, a month long tribute to all things man of steel. This week is a two parter as we look at one of the best superman comics of all time, one of the best one shot issues of all time and one of the best deconstructions of "Why don't heroes do whatever they want and kill whoever they want" of all time. I'm not softballing it: this issue is fantastic. We'll also be looking at it's adaptation later this week, the DTV film Superman Vs the Elite.

For now though we're focusing on the original story. What's So Funny... was originally published in 2001 in Action Comics 775, written by Joe Kelly and drawn by Doug Mankhe and Lee Bermejo.

For those not familiar with him Kelly is a comics legend, having helped define deadpool with his first solo book and coming back to the character quite a bit without the dimnishing returns creators sometimes have. He also founded animation studio Man of Action and is one of the co-creators of both Ben 10 and Generator Rex.

Kelly wrote superman for a 5 year run, a nice stretch all things considered and one I wish, like most of 90's and 2000's superman would get recollected. Or at the very least hopefully is on dc universe infinite. It's not AS good as having collections out there, but it's something. But if his stories are anywhere near this good, i'd love to see more of them.

Kelly wrote What's So Funny as a direct response to another book DC was publishing at the time: The Authority. The Authority were created by emotinally abusive grooming coersive dickhead Warren Ellis and entirely good dude Bryan Hitch. I bring up the latter because Hitch seems genuinely kind and deserves his flowers... and the former because it shouldn't be forgotten. Ellis hasn't genuinely atoned, deserved to loose everything he did, and while his talent shouldn't be forgotten, it's only because his talent is WHY he was able to do this. If we suddenly go "Oh he always sucked", it undercuts HOW he was able to do this. Most people he abused were fans of his and it's worth remembering he was talented.. and must ALWAYS be remembered what he choose to use said talent to do to people. I won't go into details as to avoid triggering those of you who have been simiarly abused, but if your curious go to somanyofus.com. What testimonals I have read are heartbreaking.

As for the Authority itself, it was a followup to Ellis' run on storm watch, a book created by Jim Lee about a UN Sanctioned super team that Ellis helped transform, adding in some new creations of his own to revitalize the team. The book was a critical hit and loved at the offices of Wildstorm, the company that published stormwatch and would soon be bought by DC. The problem was it wasn't selling, and Ellis, both feeling bad they were keeping the book around just because of him and wanting to take things up a notch, reconfigured the team into the authority.

The Authority was a massively powerful team, assembled to face massive threats like an army of supermen dispatched by a mad dictator, a colonliast alien-italian empire that wanted to take earth, and God itself who turned out to be an elder god wanting to restore earth to factory settings. Hitch's art made things feel BIG and cinematic, his specality, and helped show just how big comics could be alongside other works before it (JLA) and after it (New X-Men).

The team had swagger, cool powers.. and most important to this story.. no problem with killing. The team carved their way through armies of enemies, killing whoever they had to and in the first two arcs comitted mass murder: Midnighter, the team's batman and biggest asshole, drove their ship through a country just to get at the first arc's big bad, while the Doctor, their magic man and only able to get away with the name because Doctor Who hadn't been revivied just yet, killed all of alternate italy to destroy an alien empire. These steps weren't taken lightly and were only taken because otherwise more death would follow, but it was clear the team weren't meant to be good guys: simply the only ones who COULD do the job.

This changed with the following run, and I read both Ellis' run and the first two arcs of it's followup for proper context. I ddin't necessarily half to and Brotoman didn't ask and was honestly shocked I put in this much extra effort... but I realized if your going to disect a work calling out the other work, you need to have a fresh understanding of what it's fighting against.

So Ellis' run was followed up by comics legend Mark Millar. Millar seems to be a nice guy nowadays, fun to be around, lvoes the buisness, keeps going simply because he can and with one of the largest creator owned rosters of characters around.

In the 2000's though and for most of his career.. Millar was the king of the edgelords. he was the threw it on the ground guy as an actual tangible person. Millar's idea of adult storytelling was some genuine political comentary idaes.. mixed with a lot of sex and violence for the sake of sex and violence, using senstive topics like sexual assault simply to seem "edgy". So naturally the Authority went from "assholes to a point but with limits" to every last one of them saying edgelord shit, mowing down everyone in their path and LOVING it, and fucking everyone they could because Mark Millar likes ot scream

In your ear while doing nothing to prove he's not a 13 year old boy in a grown up's body. And please note I would gladly review Millar's shit as much as it frustrates me, but will never cover anything by Ellis as long as he lives, as I do not want to give that fucker any more attention than I have to, despite my reactoin to reading the first arc of the authority under him being a resounding

To give you an idea of what I had to put up with dialouge wise, here's a samping from the first four issues of Millar's run.

There's more and the bad guys are even worse, but i'd rather not throw that in here on the grounds that I LIKE you guys and I don't want to throw unecessary edgelord bollocks in here that might trigger some of you who've geninely gone through things Millar brings up just to seem more "adult".

So that's where the authority were at, and it's impressive that things escalated so much in four issues less than a YEAR before What's So Funny was published> It's why I read what I did: It's what would've been out there and while Ellis' run had likely bothered kelly, given how the Elitie are depicted and how their leader acts, it's clear a LOT of it came from Millar's work. I mean you have to be a specail brand of douchebag to get a response to your characters being the worst less than a YEAR in.

The bigger reason for this response was how fans reacted: Fans.. LOVED the authority and as tends to happen when you get a shiny new "edgy" team, some asked: "Why doe we need those other guys? If we have heroes willing to kill, topple governments and swagger all the while, why do we need some guy in tights telling us not to?" Superman was seen by some as outdated and as a result was the target of one of the oldest arguments in all of comics: should superheroes keep doing what they do, or should they take the world and force it to be better or else? It's an argument that NEVER seems to go away.

Proving this, DC had just done a story like this 5 years ago with Kingdom Come, which explored both heroes who are worse than the villians and what happens when the heroes take over. And before THAT marvel did Squadron Supreme in 1985, showing what would genuinely happen if a justice league equilvent took over the world. It'll always be a questoin to be had because readers will cycle out and the next batch will ask the same questions. So join me as we look at the answers, see WHY Superman needs to stand against this and why his methods, despite being questioned every couple of years, stand the test of time and the test of someone who had a dream he didn't like.

We open with Superman flying to Libya as superman flies to stop a superterror attack.. in this case a giant gorilla wielding a giant gun and I will pay adam wingard 5 dollary doos if the next Godzilla X Kong Film involves Kong pistol wipping a giant monster with a shot gun. Just saying.

At any rate clark arrives.. to find something truly horrific.

I give artist Doug Manhke a LOT of credit... despite having only a spread to work with he shows just how horrific this is.. and that's WITHOUT giving anything away about who did it. All we know is suddenly a group with a lot of power saved the day.. but also dropped a giant monster corpse on a city, left said city in ruins, and massacred what was , in all likelyhood an animal who had no say in being made into a giant cybernetic monstrosity. I mean this IS the dc universe with an entire ape city. I could buy Grodd or someone like him growing giant and giving themselves some cable armor to go do some murders, it just comes off more like someone super sized an ape afte rloading it up with hardware and relseaed it on a city and instead of rocgnizing the beast was simply a wild animal, those responsible brutalyl murdered it.

We soon find out who as Clark hears back from the rest of the Daily Planet crew as competing paper the Star, based on the paper Clark worked at in the earlier stories and that grant morrison would bring back for their action comics run, published a gushing story about the four monsters responsible: The Elitie, a super powerful superteam whose leader, Manchester Black even gave a statement "Trust me the old ways are dead in a year you'll love me for this".. then he cut the general he gave the statment too's legs off. It's a great intro: without meeting the guy we instantly know the deep level of prick we're dealing with, and how he'll do a casual violence simply becaues he wants to. Two thousand soldiers died in this attack along with the actual target. Also Jimmy gives a VERY poorly aged joke about watning to shoot the staff of the daily star, which is in character but still feels entirley messed up especially since Columbine had happened at this point. Jesus Jim.

As for who wrote this puff piece that would be Jack Ryder.

For those not familiar with him, Jack Ryder is a "Journalist" and I say so in the loosest terms as in most apperances he's just trying to get attention, being eerly similar to the wave of reactionary assholes we'd see in that decade. He's also the superhero the creeper, a split personality of his who wears a giant boa, cackles and is both awesome and criminally underused by dc. Seriously why they don't use this guy more I don't know. Jack gets more apperances and they can find another strawman or make one.

At any rate Jack's not here to be creepy but to praise terroists while his other self facepalms on the inside. He and clark have debate that is less than civil... and it's telling that clark , who does try to be calma nd kind even when he's pissed off, is absolutely FURIOUS at jack propping these assholes up

Now what I really like about this scene is Jack is an asshole. He make sa mocking joke before maknig an actual pointa nd dowplays all the innocent people who died. And the ape. Seriously someone feel bad an ape died. Why is it just me.

But he raises one valid point while talking directly out of his ass: "And three months later it would happen all over again"> Jack is wrong about..e verything else. Entirely. Seriously creeper needs to get a body seperator machine asap.. but he's right this shit is cyclical and people want a fix. Even 23 years later.. the world still feels broken. Kelly doesn't like the authority.. but he gets WHY people like them: Their a power fantasy, a group of people killing all the big bad dictators, putting corrupt presidents in check and trying to fix a broken world. Their methods are horrible.. but in a time that' scomplciated, unfair and frightening.. it's so easy to cling to someone who seemingly has the answers. It's why so many people flock to the right: turning to hate is sometimes the easiest solution.

We get a brief interlude with president luthor where we find out just HOW powerful these guys are. one of them, coldcast blinked and it shorted out satilites. As Amanda waller put it superman would need a jetpack and a space shuttle to even come close to their power

Naturally Lex's position.. is to let it lie. He plans to turn them into cat food, his exact words, if they so much as touch the US.. but for now their fighting other metas for respect.. and given their clearly gunning for superman and badly outclass him.. well Luthor can't resisit seeing how it plays out, letting the leitie have their fun for now.. and seeing if he can get a dead superman out of the deal. He dosen't say that directly.. but he's sure as hell thinking it as hard as he can.

The Elitie aren't resting on their laurels either, releasing a manefsto that amounts to "do bad shit and we'll fucking kill you". Superman talks this over with Steel.. but it's clear their getting to clark.. and the one thing he says makes it clear why "Do you think the world's moved on?". IT's a powerful statment: Clark himself is wondering if this is what people WANT now, if he's outmoded and if he' sreally making a diffrence.

He dosen't have time to answer as a crisis in Tokyo happens .. and Clark gets to be front and center to meet the Elite this time. Sadly.. Clark can't do anything. His body start's slowing down and we later find out it was coldcast of the elite, having done so to stop an army of geneticly engeneered samurai from massacring toykyo... so the elite massacre them instead. And after a good 15 or so pages of setup.. we finally get a look at the future.

They clockwise from the center; Manchester Black, the groups leader and mouthpiece and powerful Telekenetic, Coldcast, electric man whose deisgn was really not thorught through whatsoever and looks racist as hell, Menagre, a woman combind witha colony of deady creature and the hate, a japanese man merged with a demon that give hims a bunch of magical powers

What's intresting is rather than go 1:1, the elite compress the members of the auhority down from seven people to four so before we move on here's who they represent on the Authority

Manchester Black: Manchester is a combination of the authorities leaders: Founder Jenny Sparks and her successor Jonathan Hawksmore. Sparks is the spirit of the 20th century, had no real fliter and was never all tha tpolite, while Hawksmor was modified by aliens to become one with cities, able to travel between them effortlessly, and was also a jackass in a leather jacket who was dismissive to everyone> both gave grandose speeches and had no respect for anyone else who wasn't on their team. His powers are all him, likely because the electric poewrs were already livewires thing (and thus ported over to another member) and jack's powers were creatively specitic and somethign that might not work on superman, able to have cities eath people alive.. and given Superman's a good dude they likely woudln't.

Coldcast: Electric dynamo. Again that design what the fuck .Seems to be a combo of Jack and Jenny power wise, able to manipuate the ground in addition to electricity... I say seems as I had to look pu their power sets as the story isn't very speciic about them and Manchesters is only known to me because being a telepath and telekenetic are key to later stories starring the guy.

Menagere: Seems to be a comination of the team's two other female members; the Engineeer, a scientest with nanites in her blood that can shape into anything and swift, a woman who can grow claws and has wings, simply combingin the living hive nature of the engineer and making it more biological like swift.

The Hat: The only one that's honestly.. pretty much the same person from the authority just with a diffrent name. The Hat is based on the doctor, an ex drug addict and voice of the earth itself, latest in a long line of doctors who can do whatever he feels like really. That's not hyperbole: the doctor can bend reality and the rest of the authority all had weaknesses: Swift is fast but not super strong, the Engineer can only make things up to the the point her body has enough blood to still function, Hawksmoor's powers only work in a city, Apollo has to have a solar charge built up, something their dimension traveling spaceship dosen't provide, etc. The Doctor's only issue is if someone can cut him off and when that was done in Millar's first arc it still made no sense. It's also why I gather while the rest of the authority keeps coming back now their a full part of the dc universe, Jenny, who was dead, is even getting a mini series in august, the Doctor is just too powerful to bring back without finding some new check and ballance for him that isn't just "he's an ex addict", as we're more senstive to addiction these days, as we should be.

There's two notable omissions: Apollo and Midnighter. Apollo and Midnighter are the book's breakout stars by a wide margin, having been the first to be succesfully integrated into the dcu and being fan faviorites from the word go. The two are stand in's for superman and batman, but still distinct enough to work: Both are a bit darker given their background being raised by manipulative bastard among all manipulative bastards Henrey Bendix and both have unique power diffrences that set them apart: Apollo , as established, charges up his powers with the sun and what he can do is dependant on how much charge he has... but to compesnate for having a bigger reliance on the sun, he can shoot energy and thus wipe out an entire crowd of enemies with one shot and keep going. Midnighter meanwhile has a combat computer in his brain, is a few steps ahead like batman and has regenerating nanite blood, being essentially what happens if batman and wolverine became the same person.. again, and had less restraint.

The two are also married. Yeah, in the 90's, edgelord as they could be... we had two openly queer characters. Not only that the rest of the team accepted them: they'd crack jokes about the two's relationship, but no one genuinely cared the two were gay and given this was the late 90's, that's a HUGE statement. And i'll give credit where it's due: I may not like MIllar's run and only read what I absolutely had to... but he DID end said run with the two getting married and thankfully even with ellis being the worst. if your curious about the two I highly recommend Steve Orlando's run on Midnighter and it's followup Apollo and Midnighter, integrating the two into the dc universe.

So why would they leave out the two biggest characters on the roster? Simple.. their based on Superman and Batman. Having a golden god around kinda undermines the Elite's whole "Take a seat grandpa the new kids are here", gimmick, and if you throw in a batman type guy... it begs the question why Clark dosen't bring in Batman. And while pitting the elitie versus the justice league WOULD'VE been intresting, it wasn't something they had time for: Kelly wasn't writing JLA yet, and while having them appear in superman's book isn't out of bounds.. they had one issue. And my guess is they were squeezing said issue in before they had to start the build up to the big "Our Worlds at War" crossover that year, which started in august. The fact this story happened before that with Kelly presumibly already having stories planned, in less than a year, is a miracle in itself, so I get Kelly didn't really have time to loop in the rest of everyone and thus he trimmed the authority down to four elities for time's sake

And even with a small group... none of them are really fleshed out here aside from Manchester. I had to look up their powers because they got filled in in later stories. Here their just vauge and powerful. It's one of the stories few weakpoints: the rest of the elitie are just jackasses on a power high and that's all their personality is. It dosen't hurt the story a lot as that's all the story really needs and Manchester Black is such an engaging and despicable shithead that you only really need the one ring master for this circus, but it is something I look forward to in the movie, which has the time to flesh this out Kelly simply didn't have here.

Like I said though.. Black is engagin. He's thorughly vile here... but in a way where you get WHY people are trusting this asshole: he gives cleverly worded speeches, takes out bigger bad guys, and generally has a swagger to him. He still has the charm that Sparks and Hawksmoor genuinely had.. but he also has the asshole turned up a notch, again whY I feel that this story is a response to millar: Jenny and Jack were dicks under Ellis.. but Millar just has this very specific brand of dickishness in his characters , especially his mouth pieces, that Kelly captures REALLY well with Manchester. He's a swaggering asshole who answers to no one else and would stop a man from saving lives simply to try and prove he's outdated.

He also gives supes a tour: like the authority, the elite have a ship that's sentient. Unlike the Authority's ship, which is at best a lost child the team basically adopts when they realize it's alive and spend time gently coaxing when they need it to leave earth orbit and face it's abandonment issues, Bunny, the Elitie's hq.. is enslaved by them. They found out it was sapient, found out she didn't like what they were doing.. and cut out her heart to make her more compliant.

Superman understandably isn't here for a tour, he's here to stop them.

Manchester isn't wrong: some villians don't play fair, the world itself dosen't, and so he raises the question of "why shoudlnt' we". The brilliant thing is while he has a point that the world is in rough shape... it's HOW he phrases it that points out the flaws in his philosphy: "Any normal person could do this if they had the chance".. but SHOULD they. Is it really okay to be a bad person simply because your going after worse people? And superman's answer is a very clear "No". More on that as we go but for now Superman gets sent to a superman themed car dealership for his trouble.

We cut to the Kent Farm, where we get pa revealing he decked a guy insulting clark for the incident. I like that it dosen't shy away from the fact that no, Small Town America is not immune to this kind of thought, giving into hate because it seems like the easy solution. But once again Kelly, rather than be super condescinding, gets into why people might buy into what the elitie are selling: the world is a scary place, and it's easy to buy into someone offering a quick solution, a band aid to the world's problems. To become the evil to stop the evil.

This story, while deconstructing him slightly, does get ot hte heart of WHY Superman is needed, in his worlds and in ours: He's an inspiration. As Pa points out.. clark shows them theirs a better way. That we can be better. Clark himself madea speech like this in JLA a few years before this, a speech I feel gets to the heart of the character and superheroes in general

That's what a superhero is. not a babysitter in spandex, not the cure to a wounded world... simply someone there to help humanity at it's lowest, when it needs them.. and to inspire the average person to be better. To try and make a bette rowrld even if it seems impossible. And note this dosen't mean ignoring rough shit in the world, both Supermana nd Wonder Woman have gone into dictatorships and saved civliians. It's not letting that consume you. It's hard, so very hard, to not let the world swallow you up hole.. but fighting that every day is heroic. To simply be and to be good to others. It's what makes these guys heoric: they may stumble from time to time.. but they get back up, and do good despite the world shitting on them, or people like Black telling them "your irrelvant". You fight because it's the right thing to do, because it's what you can do to help the world.

Pa is also sure clark can just.. kick the elitie's asses if it goes south.. but Clark isn't. It's not helped by the tide turning against him: while several citizens do doubt the leitie... many support them. An easy fix to hard issues. But the most chilling.. is the children

That idea that being able to kill somehow makes you better.

Supes still tries to take the high road, stopping the men in black, who in the dc universe apparently traffic aliens. He stops the aliens witht hem with water. no loss of life, no muss no fuss. The Elitie have been watching, and Manchester is utterly bored with this lecture, not taking it seriously and calling supes an idiot when he plans to have the league and the DEO haul these guys in. Black lets supes know these are super black ops people and will just be given cushy job training other guys to do the same. And superman.. just says he'll keep putting them away till they get the point.

Yeah while i'm on clark's side, and do think the elitei's solution of just.. killing them solves nothing, after all if these guys can be replaced, how does killing a few to send a message do anything? They'll just find more guys willing to do it despite the risk. But at the same time... Superman is smarter than this. We'll see that shortly. He knows better than to just "lock them up again". He'd have Batman look into it, then use the league to make sure these guys got the justice they deserved. He has on his team a telepath with global connections, a recognized ambassador, a king and a billionare and that's just people on the team currently. He can make sure these guys ar eheld acoutnable and find out and bust up who they worked for. Just.. phrase it tha tway instead.

Black isn't impressed.. but his repsonse shows he's somehow worse at this than just "keep beating them and hopefully they'll stop which has worked never times but i'll do it anyway": Have the hat Kill them all.. and their families. Superman naturally punches the hat before he can do this.. and Black decides this is more than enough justifacation to formally go after superman.

Honestly the more I think about this scene, the more I see it as a ploy: Dont get me wrong, given his actions I do think Black would slaughter someone's family as a message... but he does so right after superman genuinely tried to show them a better way, making it clear he hates the lecture and ONLY listned to try and prove some kind of point. He KNEW these gyuys existed, they created menagre.. but didn't do anything about them or give Superman actual advice. He just wanted to strut in and then try and undo everything clark did, all the live she didn't take, just so he'd have the thinest justifcation to pick a fight with superman one on four. As for why not just do this from the outset that's simple: Manchester Black CLEARLY wannted the smug satisfaction of breaking superman, of getting him to see his way, wether it was by sitting out or by being humbled. He wanted this fight from the second he swaggered up, and simply dragged it out this long to humilate superman. He knows this isn't just a battle of two blokes punching each other, it's a battle for the world's soul, a battle of ideals: Black's "kill ema ll and let god sort it out" pessimist versus superman "We have to let them be better on thier own and they can be" optimist.

Lois.. is less pleased, mostly because she's sure her husband is going to die. And I like how the art convey's this too: Lois has more faith than clark in anybody but you can tell by her eyes she's worried about her husband picking a fight with a team on the league's level just to prove a point, to possibly die for it. It's chilling to see lois, of all people, scared. But clark has to go: even if he dies for this, it's, like I said, a battle of ideals. If he backs down more people like those kids find killing fun, the easy way the only way, and the world gets even worse. He has to show the world there's a better way.. because if he dosen't everything he's fought for, everything he stands for slowly slides away and more good people fight and die to preserve his ideals.

Clark confronts them. Naturally they choose metropolis for this final battle.. and naturally Clark says "hell no" to that as he isn't going to put innocents in danger. Black agrees, though he has their ship broadcast it worldwide: he wants the world to know this was a fair fight.

Our fighters head for the moon. Unsuprisingly Clark tries one last time to talk them down. I'd call this suicidal... but it's also Supes. He'll try talking, try reforming people if he can. And it'd be weird if he didn't. The Elitie take this as you'd expect.. Manchester tk's him then they take turns beating himn while he speechifies again.

Superman is seemingly curbstomped, with Coldcast delivering some electricity to his brain , seemingly blwoing superman up real good.. but as the Elitie brag... a voice is heard

We then get one of the most bonechilling scenes in comics.. as Superman finally decides to play by The elitie's rules..

In only two pages for us and two minutes for the elitie.. the team is down, semeingly dead. IT's a terrifying display of just what superman CAN do: take the air away, rip your powers away, or just hurl you into space. We've seen plenty of evil superman stand ins do things like this, the viltrumites from invincible are essentially one long look at that, but seeing CLARK do it.. is something else. Something far worse.

Superman finishes the fight by seemingly lobotmizing black, taking out the section of the brain that give shim his powers.. and as black cries and breaks down.. Superman.. lifts the curtain

It's a brilliant twist that also puts all the pieces in place: Clark went alone.. because he had to make it beliviable, and the others were always on standbye. He likely told Bruce and the others what he had planned simply because otherwise.. they would've come to stop him. It's what Clark would want if he really crossed that line.

He simply disabled their powers for now: he gave Chester a concussion: he'll get his powers back.. but will be under tons of psy dampeners befor ehe can.

I love this display: it both shows WHY superman could be dangerous.. and why he isn't. It's easy to be vengeful... it's harder to try and inspire people not to, to keep dreaming ot keep trying to be better. It' sthe hard road but the better one: sure he could kill or take over the world.. but humanity isn't his to take. It's his to help inspire, to make us better by showing what the best of us can do with the gifts they were born with. Chester, like any villian vows he'll be back this isn't over... and clark's response to being told he's dreaming?

A simple powerful closure: superman is living for some lofty ideals .. but their ones worth aspiring towards, to neve rstop fighting for.. ever.

What's So Funny is an excellent story. It suffers here and there from it's short run time, but still serves as an excellent response to critics of superman while not trying to be patronizing. The grungy art fits the tone of the story and the climax is a thing of beauty. check this one out if you can find it

Next Time: It's Superman Vs teh Elitie. Yes again. This time on the medium sized screen as Kelly expands his story into a full blown animated film.

[dctrfate]

Do you think barry allen should be leader of the justice league? If not who should be

he'd be so mediocre as a team leader....like critical fact to remember about barry allen is that he's an introvert and perfectly happy with his three—count 'em—three friends that aren't either his nephew or his wife. and it's not like barry's incapable of being in a position of power (see jla: year one) it's just that it's not a role he could function his best in. barry is more often than not a solo act and even more so he doesn't possess the skill-set needed in order to improve a team of disfunctional superheroes rather than just manage it. he'd be decent at it but not great.

all in all i prefer the current triumvirate (bruce, clark, diana) as the default team leaders. they're a staple of the line-up and while i do think bruce would definitely be more of the obvious authority figure i also don't think he'd spend that much time outside of gotham. like realistically batman is not going to show up to fight cyborgs in australia if superman is already on the case and has it handled. therefore, triumvirate.