InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "insanity is a lot of fun"

Jack (jackissuperfly) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-04-01 15:23:00

Entry tags:

char: black canary/dinah lance, char: blue beetle/jaime reyes, char: captain atom/nathaniel adam, char: manhunter/kate spencer, char: question/renee montoya, char: ravager/rose wilson, group: metal men, publisher: dc comics

Let's discuss DC Nation, starring Dan "Unpleasant Fellow" Didio, shall we?

Is there a word for something that gives you all kinds of hope and still completely pisses you off? Because I'm having that right now. "Hey, guys, you know how you love Black Canary? You can have her!"

"In a BACKUP feature!"

"IN HER OWN BOOK."

Wasn't that the idea? Behind the book, I mean. Green Arrow/Black Canary, featuring Green Arrow and Black Canary. Black Canary. How bad has it gotten that Dinah was given stronger characterization when Judd Winick was writing her? Judd "Suck On My Sword Tip" Winick! (I am aware that this was years ago, and there have been far greater atrocities done against her character since, but come the fuck on, Judd Winick.)

I've got an idea. Everyone start cutting out Dinah and Ollie from Green Arrow/Black Canary. Paste Dinah into the Oracle mini and Ollie into Green Lantern. One insultingly stupid comic becomes two fantastically gay ones!

On the other hand, as long as the same author that writes Green Arrow/Some Random Damsel in Distress That Looks Like Black Canary isn't behind the backup feature (Didio implores us not to use that term, but come on now) it should be pretty good. A few pages of Dinah being ludicrously awesome every month might even make up for the weekly humiliation she's receiving, right?

Right?

Let me dream.

And in other news, I'm pretty stoked about Ravager getting her own feature. To say nothing of Renee. Always look on the bright side of life, children.

(Post a new comment)

	parsimonia 2009-04-01 03:18 pm UTC (link)
	If this means that they can start telling good stories with Green Arrow, and good stories with Black Canary, then I might actually buy the book. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-04-01 03:33 pm UTC (link)
	Separating Dinah from Ollie can only do her career a world of good! (Reply to this) (Parent)

bluefall
2009-04-01 07:10 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, I'd definitely rather see 14 pages of Ollie doing his own thing that are decently written, and then 8 pages of Dinah doing her own thing that are decently written, than the clusterfuck of trying to give them shared adventures. (Of course, Didio said at Nurama that GA/BC would be the most "flexible" of the backup arrangements, sometimes being Canary up front, sometimes being a whole team issue, etc etc, which doesn't bode as well as splitting them more completely would IMO, but at least offers some promise).

Of course, it's a screw to demote Dinah from headliner to backup, and if Kreisberg stays on the title writing both it's not like it'll make the least bit of difference anyway, but hey, at least they're not killing her, dropping her story completely, or making her a "girl" and shoving her back in her mother's shadow, so she's still top of the class of Birds alumni.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	parsimonia 2009-04-01 07:33 pm UTC (link)
	Wait, so we might on occasion get a 22-page Canary story and a 10-page GA story? That would be nice. I can't remember now, because the whole wedding hooplah and build-up was happening just as I was acclimating to comics, but was there a Black Canary title (a mini-series, I suppose) that led into it? Or has she never had a title all her own? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

bluefall
2009-04-01 07:38 pm UTC (link)

There have been, to my knowledge, three BLACK CANARY titles in DC history (not counting the Archive edition). There was NEW WINGS in 91, which was a 4-issue mini, there was a series in 93 which only ran twelve issues and seems to have been mostly nudged out of continuity, and there was the four-issue thing Bedard wrote in '07 that led up to the wedding (y'know, where Ollie kidnapped her daughter and made her think she was dead and didn't bother to even tell Dinah about it for three days, and Dinah decided that meant she should marry him).

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

parsimonia
2009-04-01 07:55 pm UTC (link)

there was the four-issue thing Bedard wrote in '07 that led up to the wedding (y'know, where Ollie kidnapped her daughter and made her think she was dead and didn't bother to even tell Dinah about it for three days, and Dinah decided that meant she should marry him).

Ah, *that's* the one I was thinking of! -_- (And that was followed by "Black Canary: Wedding Planner", right?)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

jarodrussell
2009-04-01 04:17 pm UTC (link)

Is there a word for something that gives you all kinds of hope and still completely pisses you off?

I use the term "skullfuck" to describe my emotional state when I'm torn between feeling sorry for the idiots who just don't get it and wanting to kill them.

Some Random Damsel in Distress That Looks Like Black Canary

In fairness, Damsels In Distress are usually more interesting than the way Black Canary's been written since Dixon left Birds(1). I offer both Empowered as evidence and the fact I wouldn't pay $3.00 these for a comic that had Black Canary as a DID. No, no, no. Dinah has a ways to go before she's back to being as interesting and compelling as a DID. Right now it's Green Arrow/Blow-up Doll.

---

1. To this day, I'm unconvinced that was Black Canary in Dixon's comics, because I've never seen a BC before or since who was a funny, competent, and interesting. I think he created a new character and called her Black Canary for branding purposes. Either that or fishnets really do deduct 50pts of charisma.

(Reply to this)

	jlbarnett 2009-04-01 04:20 pm UTC (link)
	I guess they're going to split them up. Or maybe they'll retell the same story with more focus on her side of the story. Maybe Green Arrow/Black Canary will become Green Arrow/Black Canary and Black Canary/Green Arrow. (Reply to this)

	seriousfic 2009-04-01 04:49 pm UTC (link)
	Can't Dinah be back-up in Barbara's book? You know, like she is in bed? (Reply to this)

	yaseen101 2009-04-01 05:16 pm UTC (link)
	I don't get all the hate you are spewing. Isn't it a good thing that she is getting her own solo adventure and getting separated from Ollie? Plus doesn't the back up features have different writers altogether? If they can get a decent artist and writer I'm fine with it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

jackissuperfly
2009-04-01 06:38 pm UTC (link)

Because she's a title character. They shouldn't have to stick stories focused on her in the back of her own book. Imagine if they pulled that with Superman/Batman: Superman runs around saving lives and giving big heroic speeches while Bats spends the entire book being kidnapped, ignored, or inept. That, and the fact that they're going to make Dinah awesome in the back of the book probably won't make them any more inclined to make her awesome in the front of the book.

But as I said in the post: it does give me hope.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	yaseen101 2009-04-02 06:55 am UTC (link)
	It says Green Arrow #22 not Ga/BC #22, so it could mean that they are relaunching the GA series with Black Canary as a back-up and who knows it's too early to judge whether it would suck or not, almost all back-up issues have different writers and who says she is going to be inept or captured in it? For all we know this could be a positive change compared to before. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ashez2ashes 2009-04-01 05:23 pm UTC (link)
	Hey as long as I'm getting my Blue Beetle fix.... Ravager is a strange choice to me though. She seemed like a pretty minor character to me. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	parsimonia 2009-04-01 05:35 pm UTC (link)
	I suppose she is, in a way, but she is the daughter of Deathstroke (who has found his way into many a book), and has connections with more people than just the current Teen Titans. IIRC, Deathstroke had Nightwing train her for a bit, and for a while I think Roy hired her as Lian's babysitter... (Reply to this) (Parent)

geoffsebesta
2009-04-01 07:06 pm UTC (link)

This is mixed news and probably means that something is seriously off at DC, either in sales or editorial.

If we're going back to backup features, let me remind you of why they're good and bad.

They're good because they give a lot of opportunities to up-and-coming talent. This effectively means that all DC editors need to have twice as much talent running around working for them. Although at the beginning it will all be A-list part-timers who do them, and excellent professionals who love to work slow, like Travis Charest, will again have a monthly showcase.

Editors are traditionally a lot more willing to take chances with backups, too, and they give breathing room to both stories -- if one runs long, the other can go short, etc.

The bad news is that backups traditionally become dumping grounds for terrible work. If you remember the 70s and 80s, they were usually awful. That's why they stopped doing them.

Still, I'd like to think that this could lead to a short talent explosion at DC.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	geoffsebesta 2009-04-01 07:12 pm UTC (link)
	The only positive reason I can think of to do this is if DC really used the weekly scheduling of the last two years to amp up their editorial speed and are now using the web to find new creators (like Zuda, frex). All the other reasons I can imagine that they're doing this are bad. This looks like something you'd do in response to tanking sales. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

parsimonia
2009-04-01 08:04 pm UTC (link)

This looks like something you'd do in response to tanking sales.

But, in the face of poor sales, surely it's a good thing to do? I mean, they're not just raising the price without giving new content, and it's also ensuring that heroes like Blue Beetle and Manhunter, and their respective supporting characters, will still get stories.

All in all, I think I'm likely to be saving money at this point.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

gwalla.livejournal.com
2009-04-01 10:10 pm UTC (link)

This looks like something you'd do in response to tanking sales.

Well, yeah.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	geoffsebesta 2009-04-01 10:28 pm UTC (link)
	Are DC sales tanking, then? I heard sales were down slightly but I didn't know it was that bad. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arbre_rieur 2009-04-01 11:08 pm UTC (link)
	Titles with a back-up are going to cost $3.99. Marvel's already raised the price on a number of its book to $3.99. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Mod Note: schmevil 2009-04-01 10:54 pm UTC (link)
	I usually mod this kind of thing with a light hand, but you're going to need to moderate you language. Let's discuss sons of bitches, shall we? That's way more vitriolic than it needs to be. You don't need to call Didio a 'son of a bitch' to express your disapproval, or even your seething hatred of the man. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Mod Note: jackissuperfly 2009-04-02 12:18 am UTC (link)
	I was vague. I meant to refer to the guy who writes Green Arrow as well, but I forgot to mention that in my post (hence the plural). But while those might be mitigating circumstances, I'll be nicer. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	jasper_stars 2009-04-01 11:10 pm UTC (link)
	Well, at least I get a little fix of Jaime every month... (Reply to this)

	halloweenjack 2009-04-02 12:29 pm UTC (link)
	"Better than nothing" is not going to get me to fork over cash money for a book that's mostly still a book that I wasn't interested in reading before. In other words, I'll either byrne-steal it or wait for a collection of the back-up stories. (Reply to this)