Comments | about_faces: The Twelve Days of Who's Who! Part Six: from Quakemaster to Scarecrow (1985-1989)

about_faces

The Twelve Days of Who's Who! Part Six: from Quakemaster to Scarecrow (1985-1989)

Dec 30, 2011 18:52

Today's batch is coming much later because apparently I had a lot to say about several characters here. I've been going through waves of feeling totally burned out interspersed with MUST TALK ABOUT MY OPINIONS ON THIS CHARACTER'S ENTIRE HISTORY and then crashing again. Thankfully, tomorrow's group is almost entirely made up of some serious Z- ( Read more... )

riddler, norm breyfogle, ra's and/or talia al ghul, alan grant, arthur adams, mike w barr, scarecrow, who's who and secret files, david mazzucchelli

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about_faces December 31 2011, 05:46:03 UTC

Oh! I have that trilogy. All I remember is Shiva's stuff, since O'Neil's Shiva was awesome.

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psychopathicus December 31 2011, 06:24:49 UTC

I think Shiva works best when she's written this way, as a mysterious character whose motivations are obscure at best, and who you know could kick your ass, because she could kick ANYBODY'S ass. She's become far too relatable of late, and people are BEATING her. That is WRONG. You do not freaking BEAT Lady Shiva in hand-to-hand combat - or if you do, it should be as the result of a truly awesome, drawn-out battle that has readers holding their breath and going 'Ho. Lee. Crap.' Otherwise, what the hell is the POINT of such a character? If she's the untouchable best, then let her be the untouchable best!

about_faces January 2 2012, 08:11:15 UTC

She's become far too relatable of late, and people are BEATING her. That is WRONG. You do not freaking BEAT Lady Shiva in hand-to-hand combat...

This, this, this. Man, I rag on O'Neil a lot here (most of it affectionate ragging, I hope!), but it seems like he's the only writer who has ever understood her. There are very few other comic characters who are best when written by their original creators, but Shiva's definitely one of them. Unfortunately, she had to be offered up the The Villain To Beat in Batgirl, and I think it's been downhill for her ever since. But heck, even around the time of that wonderful panel I posted, Shiva's guest appearances in things like Starlin's A Death in the Family didn't sound, act, nor even LOOK like the same character at all.

She's the untouchable best. That's exactly who she is, and who she's supposed to be.

psychopathicus January 2 2012, 08:32:00 UTC

Well, Batgirl KINDA made sense. She'd already been made out to be this incredible badass at the time, and she did have a family connection with her, Shiva being her mom and all, so that one does sort of work. But it should have been the notable exception to the rule, not the start of a landslide. Batgirl? OK - ONCE. Batgirl, Robin, Prometheus, all within (I think) a few months? NO, NO, and NO.

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