You think so? Hmmm... maybe I'll consider it, then. Maybe.
Basically...I don't mind them creating new villains rather than constantly using another individual's creations (especially overused ones like the Joker), but the results are often so clumsy it hardly seems worth the effort. Dusting off seldom used classic characters sounds like a reasonable compromise.
And that's the thing: there should be new villains. They just shouldn't can't be created to be the Ultimate Villain off the bat. It won't work that way. What did you think of Dini's HEART OF HUSH? Many people seem to hate it--mainly for what happens to Selina--but for its flaws, I hate to admit that it actually made me kinda care about Tommy.
Oh! So you've never read the Englehart/Rogers run collected in BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS? This is the collection which also features the first appearance of Deadshot in his trademark costume, plus "The Laughing Fish!" If you can find that trade--it's out of print, I believe--oh, do, do!
Jervis! Man, one day I'm totally gonna do my post about why Jervis is mismanaged in comics, and an underappreciated character in general.
No, I don't believe he ever really has specifically targeted Batman's sanity, although there was a BKV story where he targeted his own psychiatrist by using a hypnotized Kirk Langstrom to create a serum that would turn the doctor into a raging giant Jabberwocky, thereby giving the psychiatrist insight into how Jervis himself has no control over his own madness.
So no, he's pretty much just been about hats and cosplay (god, never thought of him that way before, but it's true), but to varying degrees depending upon who's writing him. I wish comics!Jervis would be more like animated!Jervis: a dangerously unhinged and whimsical man obsessed with ALICE but also a character in his own right, with his own distinctive mentality and physical features, rather than... the way he pretty much appears everywhere else.
Mainly thanks to Grant Morrison in ARKHAM ASYLUM. Ever since then, everyone writes Jervis as a pedophile. Sigh.
You think so? Hmmm... maybe I'll consider it, then. Maybe.
Hahaha, I just noticed you ran into a Morrison fan at scans_daily who isn't treating you all that nicely. I've had a 'discussion' with him/her before...it was 'fun'!
I liked 'Heart of Hush.' Tommy is amusing when his delusions of grandeur prevent him from realizing how sick (and out of his league) he is. Awesome ending too.
I haven't read 'BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS,' I'll keep an eye out for it. My LCS tends to have a lot of obscure and out of print trades.
I remember Jervis' origin episode being pretty good, but I don't recall any subsequent episodes being very strong. Are there any episodes you recommend?
I'm trying to think of a way to keep Jervis whimsical and imaginative without making him seem ineffectual. I always worry people are going to go to the extreme and have him impaling people with a teapot or something.
You know, I actually really loved 'A Serious House On Serious Earth' (especially after reading the script included in the fifteenth anniversary edition) but it's one of those things I wish was read/viewed entirely in isolation and had little or no impact or influence on the main continuity (Pedophile Jervis=BAD).
I'm like 98% positive that it's our old pal again. Y'know, the one who said he wasn't gonna join scans_daily 3.0.
If you manage to track down STRANGE APPARITIONS, do let me know what you think! It's a bit dated, but the awesomeness elevates much/most of it to timelessness.
The number one greatest (IMO) Jervis episode barely has Jervis in it at all: "Perchance to Dream." Far as I'm concerned, his bit at the end is the defining Mad Hatter moment in the whole series. At the risk of sounding sickening, Henchgirl asks me to reenact it from time to time.
I wish Jervis could be the Willy Wonka of Gotham. The Gene Wilder Willy Wonka, mind you.
Basically...I don't mind them creating new villains rather than constantly using another individual's creations (especially overused ones like the Joker), but the results are often so clumsy it hardly seems worth the effort. Dusting off seldom used classic characters sounds like a reasonable compromise.
And that's the thing: there should be new villains. They just shouldn't can't be created to be the Ultimate Villain off the bat. It won't work that way. What did you think of Dini's HEART OF HUSH? Many people seem to hate it--mainly for what happens to Selina--but for its flaws, I hate to admit that it actually made me kinda care about Tommy.
Oh! So you've never read the Englehart/Rogers run collected in BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS? This is the collection which also features the first appearance of Deadshot in his trademark costume, plus "The Laughing Fish!" If you can find that trade--it's out of print, I believe--oh, do, do!
Jervis! Man, one day I'm totally gonna do my post about why Jervis is mismanaged in comics, and an underappreciated character in general.
No, I don't believe he ever really has specifically targeted Batman's sanity, although there was a BKV story where he targeted his own psychiatrist by using a hypnotized Kirk Langstrom to create a serum that would turn the doctor into a raging giant Jabberwocky, thereby giving the psychiatrist insight into how Jervis himself has no control over his own madness.
So no, he's pretty much just been about hats and cosplay (god, never thought of him that way before, but it's true), but to varying degrees depending upon who's writing him. I wish comics!Jervis would be more like animated!Jervis: a dangerously unhinged and whimsical man obsessed with ALICE but also a character in his own right, with his own distinctive mentality and physical features, rather than... the way he pretty much appears everywhere else.
Mainly thanks to Grant Morrison in ARKHAM ASYLUM. Ever since then, everyone writes Jervis as a pedophile. Sigh.
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Hahaha, I just noticed you ran into a Morrison fan at scans_daily who isn't treating you all that nicely. I've had a 'discussion' with him/her before...it was 'fun'!
I liked 'Heart of Hush.' Tommy is amusing when his delusions of grandeur prevent him from realizing how sick (and out of his league) he is. Awesome ending too.
I haven't read 'BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS,' I'll keep an eye out for it. My LCS tends to have a lot of obscure and out of print trades.
I remember Jervis' origin episode being pretty good, but I don't recall any subsequent episodes being very strong. Are there any episodes you recommend?
I'm trying to think of a way to keep Jervis whimsical and imaginative without making him seem ineffectual. I always worry people are going to go to the extreme and have him impaling people with a teapot or something.
You know, I actually really loved 'A Serious House On Serious Earth' (especially after reading the script included in the fifteenth anniversary edition) but it's one of those things I wish was read/viewed entirely in isolation and had little or no impact or influence on the main continuity (Pedophile Jervis=BAD).
Reply
If you manage to track down STRANGE APPARITIONS, do let me know what you think! It's a bit dated, but the awesomeness elevates much/most of it to timelessness.
The number one greatest (IMO) Jervis episode barely has Jervis in it at all: "Perchance to Dream." Far as I'm concerned, his bit at the end is the defining Mad Hatter moment in the whole series. At the risk of sounding sickening, Henchgirl asks me to reenact it from time to time.
I wish Jervis could be the Willy Wonka of Gotham. The Gene Wilder Willy Wonka, mind you.
Reply
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