Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Making a Bad Comic Slightly Better, pt. 1

I'm reaching the end of my perusal of DC Comics Presents, and while I'm looking forward to moving on, I'm trying not to let it rush me through these last issues.

Still, here in issue #90, it seems to me like we have a much better story than what was given. Here is the story, with all the filler: Bad Guy Who Looks Suspiciously Like Fabio knocks down Firestorm (who has given me many good moments), Captain Atom (who has given me the occasional good moment), and Superman (who has given me many moments where I have wondered why I read comics at all); Bad Guy turns out to be Misunderstood Guy Who Looks Suspiciously Like Fabio; Misunderstood Guy commits suicide, the end. Why we needed 2 guest stars to help Superham plod through that story, I don't know.

But it seems to me, that if you just get down to it, this is a much better story. Check out the magic I make with a mere three panels from that same issue, not necessarily in the same order they originally appeared:




add a thought balloon where Misunderstood Guy cackles and says "Well, at least ONE of us will be unmolested!", and you've got yourself some fine reading - a wonderful cautionary tale of sexual harassment and date rape all in one.

That's me - reading bad comics so you don't have to.

2 comments:

SallyP said...

They're going to be unmolested on the ROOF? In the DCU? Man, EVERYBODY and their Grandmothers fly around! Why not just go to Grand Central Station?

Bryan W. Frazier said...

The series was winding down , and being replaced by John Byrne's version of Superman soon . None of these final stories " Counted ", and they were just thrown together in order to fill out the remaining issues !! I too hated this story . It is sad to read these last few stories , after all of the great stories that cam before them !!