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mygif

No Demon Knights? Possibly the most fun book of the week that I saw.

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Thin. Amanda. Waller.

*headdesk*

I guess I should be thankful that she’s still black, shouldn’t I?

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@Sigma7: Probably.

Why does it feel like DC is releasing 52 different Elseworlds titles all at once? It’s painful.

I haven’t read any of this week’s crop yet; it looks like I really only need to pick up Green Lantern, both Bat-titles, and Legion Lost…maybe Superboy.

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Dave O'Neill said on September 15th, 2011 at 10:26 am

Still no Animal Man?

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Pantsless Pete said on September 15th, 2011 at 10:34 am

I was kinda hoping that wasn’t thin Amanda Waller. I also could’ve done without the convoluted torture scene.

That said, I liked the Grifter and I’m hoping it’ll make more sense a couple of issues in. Because it does seem like the pilot for a genre show and I’m honestly okay with that.

Also, I’m hoping the new Green Lantern just embraces Hal Jordan’s long and storied legacy of being a complete tool.

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mygif

Demon Knights surpassed Animal Man for “best so far” imo.

I *think* Tim is founding this group of Titans, but the older Titans did still exist, except that Wally and Donna never did exist, so… Fuckarhino?

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mygif

Wally got written out??? Man, that’s cold DC.

I guess reboots are the 21st century miracle cure.

Can’t walk? REBOOT!
Having trouble losing weight? REBOOT!
Trapped in a marriage? REBOOT!

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mygif

thanks to the power of day-date digital releasing, I’m able to instantly get all these recommendations.

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Please tell me you’re kidding about Power Girl. Oh, why bother, I’m sure you’re not.

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I am angry about, as someone else put it, the transformation of The Wall into The Rail.

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Two things:

1. Why the big honking fuss over Batgirl #1? It’s Gail Simone. She’s setting stuff up. She’s got a better track record than at least half of DC’s writers. I have faith in her, and that the first storyline will impress people far more than the first issue has.

2. Re: Amanda Waller . . . I think after Angela Basset’s portrayal of her in Green Lantern (and Pam Grier, to a lesser extent, in Smallville), I’m guessing DC wants new readers to not wonder if the Parallax cooties made her dive headfirst into a box of Twinkies. I think it’s more about continuity to films that DC Editorial thinks will go far than Dan Didio going, “Ohmigawd, she’s a cow!! How can she be in charge of a Suicide Squad if she looks like she can’t dodge bullets?!? EEEEWWWWWWWW!!!”

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mygif

“Power Girl in the nu52: she’s Michael Holt’s non-superpowered love interest! CUE NERD RAGE.”

BRING ME THE BALLS OF DAN DIDIO.

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mygif

Yeah, thin Amanda Waller is probably a movie/Smallville based change, so as not to confuse any possible crossover fans.

Let’s not forget, Justice League #1, which is probably going to be the best selling single issue out of the reboot, shipped maybe 200k copies last month. The Green Lantern movie that Waller appeared in, widely regarded as a mild financial dissapointment, sold somewhere slightly south of 10 million tickets (Similarly, Smallville averaged about 2-3 million viewers each episode in its final season). “Make her look like Pam Grier/Angela Basset from the movie/TV show” isn’t exactly a dumb move, given those numbers.

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mygif

No! Actually let’s discuss whatever the fuck they were thinking with “detective comics”. Really DC? You start with The Joker & give him this schlok?I’ve HAD ENOUGH of them trying to make Joker more EXTREEEEme! It works with Carnage not Joker ( & as you know , I love both these guys for different reasons), & besides peeling the skin off a face like that? since when Mr J is a superpowered being to survive that? unless they wanna make him blind , mute & incomprehensible. He’s frightening as he is , the fact he looks like a joyful clown is what makes him scary, not leatherface’s retarded cousin! It’s still sad that Arkham city gave a far superior Joker to the “canon” one…
Heh, thin Amanda Waller? maybe it’s a slimfast advertisment inside a comic!
If they retcon the retjohns about Superboy that would be a treat, but hey as long as Kon-El is back to his distinct fun & cocky personna I won’t complain much.
Wally & Kyle are gone then? well thank you DC.No honestly it gives me more reasons not to give a damn about what’s next & reading the 90’s-early00 !stuff ( my dCU actually)

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mygif

Really need to check out Demon Knights. I think it’s going to be a fun ride for however long it lasts (and is another example of how DC really is trying to hit other genres with these books.)

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Kristopher A said on September 15th, 2011 at 1:36 pm

As a former doubter of Lobdell, he probably put together the cleanest origin book I’ve ever read in my life. It actually makes me want to read Teen Titans, if only to see if he can keep up the magic.

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@BSD I’ve also heard her being referred to as “The Rack” (although that might be going a bit far).

And it’s not just that they made her thin. Angela Basset and Pam Grier both at least had some gravitas. From what I’ve seen, she looks like a generic comic book sexpot.

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Kristopher A said on September 15th, 2011 at 3:03 pm

Oh, Tim Drake doesn’t found the Teen Titans. The New Teen Titans existed, and I’m guessing some of the variations after that. This particular group of titans, however, hasn’t existed before.

So basically they are throwing out both Young Justice and the Johns Era Titans.

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To the Johns era titans , well the dumpster is where it belongs!
But Young Justice! BLASPHEMY ! HERESY! MADNESS! SPARTA! THAT WAS ONE MASTERPIECE OF A COMIC! The characters were awesome, deep, & appealing, the humor was great & the dark parts were efficient because they were few & far between! & They get rid of THAT? FUUUCK YOOOOUUUU!

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mygif

The New Teen Titans existed

Donna Troy didn’t; possibly Wally didn’t either; Cyborg was never a member, apparently; Starfire and Speedy probably weren’t either.

This leaves a New Teen Titans of Robin, Changeling and Raven.

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Kristopher A said on September 15th, 2011 at 4:18 pm

It was confirmed a while back that the New Teen Titans were still in continuity, and other statements seem to back that up.

Donna Troy didn’t;

I have no clue what the hell is going on with Donna, so I can’t comment on her.

possibly Wally didn’t either;

I’ve heard confirmations that Wally is alive, but essentially retired with his family. I think this got asked during one of the mid-summer cons.

Cyborg was never a member,apparently;

I had figured that while he’d be welcomed on to the JLA, he’d tell them that he feels more comfortable with people closer to his own age and then go back to the JLA. Sort of a “We’ll hold your spot for ya.”

Starfire and Speedy probably weren’t either.

Lobdell confirmed Starfire and Dick dated in his Q&A not long ago, so I’m fairly sure they were on the team together.

I know it’s been confirmed in different interviews, and Lobdell’s Q&A is the one where I know it’s been talked about. There have been so many damn interviews, though, I’m at a loss to cite my other statements.

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Also, the sketch stuff in the back of JL called Cyborg a “future Titan.”

MGK, why do you keep avoiding one really well reviewed issue each week (Animal Man, Demon Knights) and picking up crappy ones instead? I ask out of concern for you.

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mygif

The Red Lantern comic book should be about Dexter the cat — and he should just be a cat, and not some alien that happens to look like a cat. This is a reboot, so they can change some stuff…

Think about it… The red ring searches out the most enraged being in the sector, and it’s a housecat. In fact, the ring should have hesitated for a while, trying to pick which housecat has the most rage.

And the whole vomiting blood and acid… cats vomit foul crap up all the time, so it works for a cat.

Imagine if Rex The Motherfucking Wonder Dog was made dark and gritty in some 1990’s comic. That’s what we could have gotten, rather than the adventures of Atrocitus, but better since no one would be saying “Rex never would tear out someone’s throat”.

Or it could be like the Incredible Hulk TV show, where Dexster wanders from town to town, getting into mild adventures until someone or something inevitably makes him angry.

You pet the cat, you don’t pet the cat, you STOP petting the cat, a firetruck goes by — all points where you might get a dose of cat vengeance.

Housecat revenge fantasy has enormous potential to bring something new and fresh into comics.

Also, Superboy was surprisingly good.

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BallsMonkey said on September 15th, 2011 at 5:50 pm

Superboy? Really? I found that book to be predictable, mind-numbingly wordy, and overall just boring. They couldn’t have just continued what Lemire was doing with Conner? They had to go in this direction? Just awful.

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EndOfTheWorld said on September 15th, 2011 at 7:26 pm

Oh man thank goodness they “fixed” Amanda Waller and made her skinny and such, I mean why can’t every woman in comics have the body type demanded by a fourteen year old’s libido? The only question now is, when is DC going to fix Ma Kent? She could certainly do with some lipo and perky new tits.

You know what? Let’s make every character a skinny supermodel with perky tits. Fuck it, it’s not like you’re making “art” here, people. It’s just comics!

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mygif

Am I the only one who was completely unimpressed with Demon Knights? Seriously seemed undercooked to me.

But about the rhyming – I don’t remember the timeline, but rhyming is a sign of rank in Hell. Was Etrigan a rhymer 1200 years ago?

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Jonathan Miller said on September 15th, 2011 at 8:46 pm

Tim: Etrigan wasn’t even a rhymer in the 1970s, so I had no problem with him not being one whenever Demon Knights (which I liked) takes place. Kirby didn’t make him rhyme, Moore did, so this is more of a “back to his roots” version, I guess.

I was more surprised by Vandal Savage’s characterization. (And, I guess, the apparent new and different origin for Mordru…)

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mygif

How funny would it be if it turned out Amanda Waller had her stomach stapled? Not for appearances’ sake, but to ensure at least ten more years of yelling at people and activating exploding collars.

Gustopher . . . Dex-Starr is a housecat from Earth. I’m not sure how he got blue fur, but he’s the opposite of an “LOLCat.”

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Jason Barnett said on September 15th, 2011 at 8:54 pm

No matter how smart he is Mr. Terrific isn’t going to have everything with him in the field. He’s going to have to use his brain and then match it with current resources.

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malakim2099 said on September 15th, 2011 at 9:57 pm

@Jason – There was an origin story a while back for Dex. As far as the blue fur, I’m guessing he’s a Russian Blue (or at least partially).

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mygif

… I actually thought that Dex-Starr was a comics joke I’d missed. A cat with a power ring as a serious concept? Christ.

Every time someone says, “But the Green / Taste the Rainbow Lanterns have a really deep and interesting concept,” I will have a power-ring cat to think of next to the power-ring squirrel.

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mygif

Yes, that’s a true example of Nerd Rage: getting all exercised over an assumption with the flimsiest of evidence to support it.

This evidence being that Power Girl was not seen in costume in a situation where she had no reason to be in costume, and didn’t do anything supery within the first moment of disaster striking.

Not to mention that with the JSA now back on Earth 2, it’s possible they are giving Power Girl an unpowered Earth 1 counterpart in order to have wacky mistaken identity hijinks some point down the line (which I agree would be dumb, since Power Girl’s Earth 1 counterpart is Supergirl), but I don’t for a second believe that Power Girl has been written out of continuity.

Whether this is Power Girl, I’ll wait until next issue to find out.

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Wally Kovacs said on September 16th, 2011 at 6:58 am

While it’s true that jumping to conclusions is Nerd Ragey, it doesn’t help the fact that Power Girl went from having her own comic book that was very fun, to being a love interest in a weaker book.

That’s like writing people not liking Suicide Squad off as nerd rage over thin Waller and Harley’s costume instead of “you replaced Secret Six with this?”

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mygif

Yeah, I know Etrigan didn’t originally rhyme, and I’ve got the original run of Kirby’s DEMON compiled from quarter boxes to prove it, but most non-Byrne writers have treated the rhyming as canon. But he didn’t always rhyme, he earned it, and if Cornell isn’t having him rhyme it’s probably because he made a conscious decision not to for some reason.

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mygif

So… you don’t have an opinion on the disappearance of Deadshot’s pornstache, then?

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Cole Cash put on a mask because he hunting things that know what he looks like.

At least that is how I took it.

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To Saidi: Kyle’s not gone, he’s the lead in Green Lantern: The New Guardians. The GL line is barely, if at all, being re-tooled.

But DiDio has confirmed on multiple occasions on twitter, at cons, and in interviews that because “Wally’s origin derives from Barry’s, the timeline is too concise for him” to exist. 5 Robins, including Wally’s best friend/same age Dick Grayson, not to mention Roy Harper is still out there… But too concise for Wally West, the best character in the history of superhero comics (with all apologies to our Rex The Wonder Dog loving host.)

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Oh, and Johns has claimed he is setting up the end of the first arc of Justice League so that it can be read that Cyborg joined the Titans after the JLA formed, but left them again before the 5-years later present. Or something. Clusterfuck.

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Cole Cash put on a mask because he hunting things that know what he looks like.

Yes, I got that, but that’s stupid, because the mask is a big sign saying HEY GUYS I’M RIGHT HERE. He’s supposed to be a con man; he doesn’t know how to dye his hair and otherwise alter his looks to blend into the crowd?

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Because the Mask is really cool? I know that doesn’t really work logically but hey DC Superhero comics.

Also I do hope it gets better Cole was the best part of Casey’s phenomenal run on WildCATS and he has a good enough pitch to provide some interesting stories.

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@Wally Kovacs I agree with you about PG losing her solo book (although that ship sailed for me when Winnick became captain) but that wasn’t the point that was made in the article and it wasn’t the point I was addressing.

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mygif

Ha. Good call on Demon Knights, MGK, and I’m with you on the rhyming thing. (Kirby’s X-Men didn’t include most of the characters we know as the X-Men, does that mean Claremont’s version is disposable?) Cornell also seems to be fucking with the Seven Soldiers version of Shining Knight (she was transported through time to the present, she wouldn’t have been around in the middle ages…also, she’s a classical “pure-hearted knight”, not a snarky assmunch as she’s portrayed here).

If you guys want to read good fantasy comics, there are actually several out there. Skull Kickers is a blast, the Marvel revival of the CrossGen property Mystic is showing signs of being a truly great series, and the IDW Dungeons and Dragons comic is apparently quite good. And there’s Orc Stain, which I’ve only read the first issue of but was heaped with critical acclaim a while back.

Admittedly, none of those comics have an exploding baby.

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Kristopher A said on September 16th, 2011 at 8:50 pm

That’s a false comparison, Prankster; there’s no actually regression or reversion here. Instead, we are seeing a past version. For all we know, he might not be a Rhymer yet, considering it’s 800-900 years in the past. The whining going on about it seems to be overblowing something which actually might not be out of character.

If we are talking Seven Soldiers, it wouldn’t matter that she was still in the future since she doesn’t technically belong in this time period anyways: Her Camelot was 85,000 years ago. By having her there in the first place, he’s already altered the character’s origin. I don’t really have an opinion on that version of the character since, frankly, I have nothing outside of SS to really attach her to and I’m willing to see what Cornell does with the character.

And ripping on it for being “mostly prologue” while loving Superboy? Was Superboy not a prologue to him actually becoming a superhero? Both are origins: one of a single character the other a team. To me, it managed to set-up six of the seven characters perfectly fine without being exposition-heavy, give an interesting villain, balanced action and plot, and we even get dinosaurs wielding knives and swords. It’s a great combination of a fantasy comic and a superhero comic, and I don’t see the reason you are so down on it.

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I did like Batwoman #1, but I want to note that I haven’t seen anyone expressing surprise at the staggeringly gratuitous cheesecake display (with encore!). Or the awkwardness of the “hey, we’re both lesbians, let’s date” scene.

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Evil Midnight Lurker said on September 17th, 2011 at 2:27 am

The new Resurrection Man is NOT a continuation of the old, much as I wanted it to be. Mitch is a complete mystery to himself once more, he has some kind of “missions” imposed on him, the Body Doubles are quite insane as opposed to just plain career hitwomen, and there aren’t any obvious hooks to the old series.

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mygif

1. Thin Amanda Waller is, yeah, disappointing.

2. As pointed out, Etrigan was not a “rhyming demon” until he adopted it for fashion’s sake in Moore’s Swamp Thing (which all apparently happened somewhat recently in Nu52, if at all!).

2a. BTW — Is Matt Wagner’s Xanadu still in canon? Just how powerful is this purple-Hooded Woman?

3. The whole Xena-meets-Thrones vibe is of Demon Knights is enjoyable (Xanadu is SO Gabrielle, in’t she?) I can see why folks would get (relatively) passionate about it, especially the “post-Fables” folks. I myself had, if you’ll forgive the over-sharing, a shuddering fan-gasm upon turing to the last page — the you-know-whats holding swords in their tiny arms! SQUEE!! I think I actually heard the proto-fanboy at my pure core shriek with delight. It was… pleasantly unnerving. Well worth tree bucks.

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Mark Temporis said on September 17th, 2011 at 2:51 am

MEN OF WAR: DC doing a war comic and not having Garth Ennis do at least the first story arc is puzzling. I mean, who else really writes those?

From the Century Baby info in Stormwatch that they specifically embody the technology which defines each era, I’m kinda hoping for Jenny Magic in Demon Knights.

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Cookie McCool said on September 17th, 2011 at 9:13 am

Come on, Free Verse Etrigan is edgy and hip. You sound like Orson Scott Card, poetry and demons have to rhyme, wah wah wah. Next you’ll be writing about how every comic character has to get married and have babies because it’s the only way to be fulfilled as a hero.

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mygif

Can’t say the rhyming thing bothered me all that much. I was more put off by the way Xanadu was characterized, though I haven’t seen much of her, and like Etrigan we are getting a younger version of the character.

I’m wondering if folk’s positive reaction to Superboy #1 (which I read and will admit is pretty good) has to do with the fact that, as MGK pointed out, eveyone was expecting a trainwreck here.

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mygif

Entrigan speaks in iambic pentameter now. come on you guys, get on the ball.

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@Gustopher: Dex-Starr is an Earth housecat, not an alien. They did a (pre-reboot) origin story for him that was really good, and made the concept work as something other than just a visual gag.

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Dex-Starr stopped being amusing the second they gave him a “tragic” origin story. Or at least, stopped being intentionally amusing.

Grifter sounds like they should have just gone full Sam Raimi/Darkman and had him exclaim, “Cole Cash is dead. Now there is only… the Grifter!”

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mygif

Yeah, but all these excuses for Etrigan not speaking in rhyme are just that, excuses. It’s pretty clear that Cornell has chosen to have non-rhyme-speaking Etrigan–if he wanted him to speak in rhyme, he could have him speaking in rhyme. So, OK, creative choice on Cornell’s part–but why? What does having him talk in prose actually accomplish? As far as I can tell, nothing, which makes it seem like Cornell just couldn’t be bothered. I suppose if you just don’t like rhyming Etrigan, that’s fine, and you are wrong. WRONG I SAY.

And Shining Knight–again, OK, they’re rebooting the character. Because lord knows after appearing in four issues three years ago, the character was desperate for a reboot. Again, though, we’re given a character who, in terms of both context and personality, is completely different from how she originally appeared–the whole point of the character is that she’s a Silver Surfer-esque pure soul in a fallen alien world, i.e. ours, and if you take that away you’re left with little besides “Hey, look, it’s Shining Knight. Cool.”

I’m prepared to give Cornell a chance with both of these characters, but so far he hasn’t actually made an argument for why he needed to portray them this way. It’s just, “I’m gonna write these characters however I want.”

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Wally Kovacs said on September 19th, 2011 at 2:05 am

I’ll simply say this:

Rhyming demon as supporting character – cool.

Rhyming demon as main character – annoying as heck.

Imagine they made Bizarro a full blown cast member in a team book, and went ‘full Bizarro’ where each sentence is a logic puzzle, instead of the simple misuse of verbs, and including the word ‘no’ or using opposites once in a while. And even then, they wouldn’t put Bizarro in charge of the team anyway, so at best he’d be the team’s King Shark or Rag Doll where they are still in such small doses that they are endearing instead of annoying.

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dangermouse said on September 21st, 2011 at 5:47 pm

re: Superboy,

I cannot overstate how much I hate “genetic memories” as a concept.

Like okay yeah it’s awful science and comics are awful science and that’s fine and I’m in no way objecting to that.

But strictly as a dramatic concept and storytelling conceit – it’s just garbage.

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