InsaneJournal

thanekos (thanekos) wrote in scans_daily, @ 2009-08-21 12:08:00

The Superhuman Defense: A Moment In Astro City Legal History
or: Another take on " Perhaps it was my Evil Clone who did that bad thing there? "



Vincent Oleck is a skilled lawyer who's been handed a case he'd rather not have:



but he knows that may just not be enough for the powerful, notoriously vengeful mob boss father of his client. and he really doesn't want to piss that guy off.

unfortunately, the whole thing seems a bit too open and shut for him to pull anything off.



still fearing what a loss might mean for his life expetenancy, Oleck spends every waking moment internally trying to find an angle, until TV and a remark from his wife gives him...



something he might be able to spin into an ass-saver, provided the inexplicable dreams he's been having of gun wielding vigilante the Blue Knight don't totally break him:



(yes, those dreams... kinda sorta turn out to mean something in the end. and yes, the Blue Knight is one of the people in this page...)



... you know, it would be hilarious if that's how the Silver Agent actually went out.

the court allows this line of reasoning, insane as it seemingly is, so Oleck calls up the medical examiner in the case:



it's a testament to what lots of superstuff does to a world that no one's raising mad objections about this, isn't it?



and here comes the hammer....



SMAAAAAAASH!

and lo, a minor moment in legal history was made.

unfortunately, this moment of brilliance leads into the mob boss not-so-subtly trying to dragoon him into the mob's service, which isn't quite what Oleck wants.

And yet, fear of offending the mob paralyzes him:



nonetheless, his little legal stratagem's sparked some interest, both good:



and annoyed (bad's already been covered):






finally, the denouement comes, and he tries to make it the best one he can:





shouldn't've involved the silver agent, man. dude's a touchy subject.

anyhow, the mob doesn't take his spurning too lightly, the Olecks flee, and ultimately the Blue Knight (whose identity is not a big shock, if you read the whole thing) saves them all.

and the law redefines itself, and Oleck gets a happy ending:



bonus: a kinda subtle dig at the Distinguished Competition via Spider-Man.



... now that's just a story in one page, right there. gotta love those kinds of pages, when you can take 'em out of context and they can still be their own self-contained moment.

also, the explosion is because an acquaintance of Peter's just turned himself into a vibranium skinsuit wearing supervillain because of irresponsible super-sciencing.

he got the means to do that through a Stark grant (and, amusingly, because Peter wrote a recommendation for him... weird, huh?)

Unfortunately, his own hastiness, combined with his own issues, lead to:




and the destruction of Aunt May's house. woe.