DC Comics Reboot

[Bloodshadow]

So....it's been revealed

Spoiler

Green Lantern Alan Scott?

[BentonGrey]

 

[cmdrkoenig67]

So....They pick the guy in the puffy shirt?  Really?  The guy who was married and had children?  Aren't there any more logical choices for gay characters?

Dana

[murs47]

But how will we get Jade?

[Bloodshadow]

But how will we get Jade?

An affair with hulk?

[Talavar]

Because nobody gay in the '30s, '40s and '50s ever got married and had kids....

[BlueBard]

Y'all are kind of assuming continuity that might not exist anymore.  One thing about the "New 52", DC can change anything they want at this point.

"Oh, yeah!  Everything is exactly the same except for all the things we want to be different!"

Kind of a large loophole, wouldn't you say?

[The Hitman]

This seems like a cop-pot to me. If DC wanted to make this revelation as earth-shattering as they wanted it to be, at the very least they should've picked a character from the main continuity. Go big or go home, DC.

[BentonGrey]

No, just go home.

[oldmanwinters]

I'm kinda surprised DC never created a Maggie Sawyer and Renee Montoya mini-series. 

[Podmark]

I read the Batman Annual today. Quite enjoyed it.

Spoiler

It properly introduces the reboot Mr Freeze. It is revealed that Nora is not his wife but a young woman frozen in the 40s that Freeze has become obsessed with because she was frozen in ice. It's an interesting origin and creates a much more dark and insane Freeze. I kinda like it. Not better than the TAS Freeze but a workable version.

[Previsionary]

Interview Re: Alan Scott being gay:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=38946

CBR News: James, "Earth-2" as a series is something you developed for a while before the comic hit the stands. At what point in the process did changing Alan Scott's sexual orientation come about, and what did you feel it added to the world and character?

James Robinson: We were developing the book for about eight months before the first issue came out, and there's a part of me that loves the old continuity and everything else. Obviously, I'm a huge fan of DC. But one of the things I felt was that if you're going to reinvent a universe, you should really go for it. You should go for it the way Grant Morrison has done with Superman or how Geoff Johns has come up with a new origin for the Justice League. With that in mind, the only thing I was sad about in terms of a younger Justice League was that there wasn't going to be Jade and Obsidian – Obsidian of course being Alan Scott's gay son. And just as one idea can foster the next, from there I went, "Why don't I just make Alan Scott gay?" And to Dan Didio's credit, there wasn't a moments hesitation on that. He just said, "That's a great idea," and we went with it.

And I can't speak for Dan, but I suspect that he is as surprised by how much attention this has gotten as I am, because I believe I did the first gay kiss in comics back in "Starman." That was in 1998 in issue #45. So this has been going on for a long time, and we obviously had Mikaal Tomas in the Justice League before this. So to me, it's a realistic aspect of the cross section of diversity that exists in society. That would exist on a team. So the fact that it's become a big deal, I'm a little surprised by that. But I'm delighted by the mainly positive reaction that it's gotten and the attention it's bringing to the book, which is obviously a really good thing.

I wanted to ask about that history with Mikaal Tomas Starman. Even though we've seen gay characters in mainstream comics and gay heroes, things like this and Marvel's wedding in "Astonishing X-Men" are drawing a lot more attention. What do you think has the raised spotlight on these stories, and does that attention change how you approach writing Alan at all?

One of the things I want to stress and one of the things I take pride in and hopefully do well is that when you meet these characters – and both Alan and [the Flash] Jay Garrick were only in two pages of the first issue – you'll see that I'm not changing them. I'm just turning them into modern day versions of how they used to be when they started out in the Golden Age. Jay Garrick was this young, slightly naive and idealistic guy that got his powers in the last year of college and went out into the real world. This version of Jay Garrick is pretty much the same person. The thing about "Earth-2" is that it isn't a magical world, but there's a little more mysticism there than there is on the main DCU. So all of these heroes get their powers in a slightly mystical way. As opposed to that strange original Jay Garrick origin with that "hard water" fictional science, he instead gets his powers from the dying god Mercury.

Alan Scott gets his powers from the green flame. He used to be this dynamic, bold, young guy who was originally an engineer but eventually became a radio announcer and then a radio station owner. Then as TV became a part of life, the Gotham City Broadcasting Company became a TV station too. So we're really going back to the way he was – that honorable, brave, type-A hero that he was starting out. The only thing I've done is treat his sexuality differently. But to me, that's just one aspect, one facet of the character. There are so many other aspects to him.

As for why it's getting all this attention, I think maybe it's just the time. The public is now more aware of this sort of thing and frankly is more accepting of it all. I think that's a good thing. It's the progress of society.

[steamteck]

I read the Batman Annual today. Quite enjoyed it.

Spoiler

It properly introduces the reboot Mr Freeze. It is revealed that Nora is not his wife but a young woman frozen in the 40s that Freeze has become obsessed with because she was frozen in ice. It's an interesting origin and creates a much more dark and insane Freeze. I kinda like it. Not better than the TAS Freeze but a workable version.

Makes him way less sympathetic though.

[lugaru]

Wow, a gay alternate reality character. It is like sunfire in 2001, only hyped.

Honestly if DC would have snuck this in, I would be happy. As an teased "big deal", turns out it is not.

[cmdrkoenig67]

So I guess neither of Alan's children (Jade and Obsidian, wasn't Obsidian gay?) exist?

Dana

[Previsionary]

yes, he was gay, and no they do not exist. Covered in the article, first question. 

Yep, I just  you.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Whoops, I missed that.

Dana 

[Podmark]

Makes him way less sympathetic though.

Indeed. But that's what they were going for.

[Talavar]

Makes him way less sympathetic though.

Indeed. But that's what they were going for.

I've never understood why all of Batman's villains need to be psycho-killers.  Wasn't three-quarters of them enough?

[thalaw2]

DC missed a great chance with making Alan Scott gay.  He's from the 40's...they could have worked so many angles to explain him having kids and such.  Making it an alternate reality seems a little weak to me....but time will tell.

[knuckles knick]

Man, what is is with comics now a days that they are seriously pushing their homosexual views on us.  Just dropped Young Avengers from the multiple gay characters they are pushing.  jeeze!

[Previsionary]

The... two...gay characters that have been in the book since issue 1? There's like a handful of active gay and bi characters out there right now in mainstream comics as opposed to the heap of straight ones. Let's calm our hyperboles.

[Talavar]

DC missed a great chance with making Alan Scott gay.  He's from the 40's...they could have worked so many angles to explain him having kids and such.  Making it an alternate reality seems a little weak to me....but time will tell.

I agree.  An older character coming out now, with the explanation that they felt they couldn't earlier, would have had more impact.

[John Jr.]

One of the main reasons behind the DC reboot was the "need" to make characters younger. DC feels comics readers do not trust anyone older than 29 because they're not "edgy" enough.

[deano_ue]

I read the Batman Annual today. Quite enjoyed it.

Spoiler

It properly introduces the reboot Mr Freeze. It is revealed that Nora is not his wife but a young woman frozen in the 40s that Freeze has become obsessed with because she was frozen in ice. It's an interesting origin and creates a much more dark and insane Freeze. I kinda like it. Not better than the TAS Freeze but a workable version.

personally i know the origin that is most popular is in its self a reboot, this knew one makes the character lose any uniqueness about his motivation and just turns him into the general obsessive geek who didn't get the girl and went nuts.




the freeze change annoys me because it ruins aspects and moments like the image above

the DCAU freeze was a ambiguously foreborn and a killer no one doubts that but in a way you really could see where he was coming from and you may have done the same if stuck in his position, its a story that lead to really deep character driven moments

if you look at it with the new 52 freeze in mind, its the generic psycho nerd who is obsessed with some woman stuck in a fridge

[BentonGrey]

Agreed TUE.

[murs47]

I completely disagree.

Freeze was a psychopathic killer pre-Nu52 and and he's still one now. Does Nora being his wife somehow justify killing innocent people? A psychopathic murderer is a psychopathic murderer.

Also, that picture can be interpreted as obsession.

[Previsionary]

I completely disagree.

Freeze was a psychopathic killer pre-Nu52 and and he's still one now. Does Nora being his wife somehow justify killing innocent people? A psychopathic murderer is a psychopathic murderer.

Also, that picture can be interpreted as obsession.

Nuh-uh-uh!

Now, murs... UE is not gonna do that thing with you where he explains his opinion, you explain yours, and he interprets it as you telling him he's wrong. Apologize. You're out of line. And obsessed. With something. Probs yourself.

See, UE, I gotcho back. *holds knife and serious stares UE's back* 

*disappears in a cloud of biting sarcasm*

[BentonGrey]

I completely disagree.

Freeze was a psychopathic killer pre-Nu52 and and he's still one now. Does Nora being his wife somehow justify killing innocent people? A psychopathic murderer is a psychopathic murderer.

Also, that picture can be interpreted as obsession.

They turned him into a psychopathic killer in the comics after his renaissance in the DCAU, which I always hated.  There were good stories told, but they made him less special.  However, I'd argue that this is not the core of the character as he was reimagined in TAS.  Freeze was always one of the most rational of the villains, driven, but not necessarily insane.  He was sympathetic in a way that most of the rest of the Bat rogue's gallery just can't really be.  Perhaps he was obsessed with Nora, willing to do great and terrible things to save her or revenge her memory, but that is part of what make him interesting.  That's the villain inside of him, the part of him that is willing to sacrifice others for the sake of his love, a sacrifice she herself would certainly not condone.  Obsessed?  Probably, but so was Romeo.

[oldmanwinters]

I completely disagree.

Freeze was a psychopathic killer pre-Nu52 and and he's still one now. Does Nora being his wife somehow justify killing innocent people? A psychopathic murderer is a psychopathic murderer.

Also, that picture can be interpreted as obsession.

They turned him into a psychopathic killer in the comics after his renaissance in the DCAU, which I always hated.  There were good stories told, but they made him less special.  However, I'd argue that this is not the core of the character as he was reimagined in TAS.  Freeze was always one of the most rational of the villains, driven, but not necessarily insane.  He was sympathetic in a way that most of the rest of the Bat rogue's gallery just can't really be.  Perhaps he was obsessed with Nora, willing to do great and terrible things to save her or revenge her memory, but that is part of what make him interesting.  That's the villain inside of him, the part of him that is willing to sacrifice others for the sake of his love, a sacrifice she herself would certainly not condone.  Obsessed?  Probably, but so was Romeo.

Agreed.  DCAU Freeze went through some very dark periods in his life (such as at the beginning of "Deep Freeze" episode and just about everything after the Sub-Zero movie), but there were brief moments when the benevolent Victor still seemed to exist (his sacrifice at the end of "Deep Freeze," the end of the Sub-Zero movie, his temporary reform in Batman Beyond, etc.)  The Batman "Gotham Adventures" comics had some very good Mr. Freeze stories that bridged the gap between Nora's revival and how Freeze's head ended up in the possession of Wayne-Powers.